Snowfall warnings return to Manitoba as Alberta clipper arrives

Parts of western and central Manitoba are under a snowfall warning as an Alberta clipper moves across the Prairies.

Environment Canada meteorologist Shannon Moodie says the system is bringing along a couple bands of snow. The first hit around 4 a.m. as the system moved from Saskatchewan into Manitoba on Monday.

"It was a really intense band of snow that went through. It was really quick, but really intense," she said. "We'll get another shot coming through tonight and into Tuesday."

Areas surrounding Dauphin, Swan River and the northern Interlake region could see 10-20 centimetres of snow by the time the two bands have left their mark, a weather alert from Environment Canada says.

As of Monday morning, the snowfall warning is in effect in the following areas:

• Arborg, Hecla, Fisher River, Gypsumville and Ashern.
• Dauphin, Russell, Roblin and Winnipegosis.
• Ste. Rose, McCreary, Alonsa and Gladstone.
• Swan River, Duck Mountain and Porcupine Provincial Forest.

Reduced visibility is expected with wind gusts of 40-60 km/h stirring up the fresh snow. 

Brandon, Winnipeg and other areas south of the Trans-Canada Highway were expected to see lighter amounts of snow, in the range of about two to five centimetres by Tuesday.

"I think everybody's pretty happy. I don't know that everybody had the snowfall we have here in the Parkland, but certainly Parkland producers are happy," said Terron Stykalo, president of the Dauphin Agricultural Society.

"There's a saying that you don't make or lose a crop on the snowfall. But, you know, it goes a long way for our pastures and our hay crops out here. And just the optimism of being able to know, going into spring, that we're going to have a chance to put that crop into some good moisture and at least get off to a good start."

That said, Stykalo knows farmers who are delighting in some moisture after back-to-back drought years could still face too much of a good thing.

"We are at the tail end of February, so Mother Nature can sure throw a few more curveballs at us before it comes to spring," he said.

The clipper system is also bringing a drastic change in temperature. A run of days that saw above-seasonal temperatures will give way to some much colder days.

Wind chill values of –25 to –35 are expected Monday night across southern Manitoba, with daytime temperatures forecast to be –15 C to –20 C before easing a bit by end of the week.

Normal temperatures for this time of year are a high of about –6 C and overnight low of –16 C.

Meanwhile, an extreme cold warning is in effect in parts of northern Manitoba.

Brochet and Tadoule Lake are expected to see wind chill as cold as –45 to –50 through to Wednesday morning.

School closures

Due to hazardous road conditions, school is cancelled Monday in:

• Evergreen School Division.
• Lakeshore School Division.
• St. Laurent School in the Prairie Rose division.
• Aurèle-Lemoine Community School in the Franco-Manitoban School Division.

Street cleaning

City of Winnipeg crews are working to clear the snow from streets, sidewalks and back lanes based on the street priority system.

Drivers are reminded that the annual winter route parking ban is in effect, which means no parking between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. on streets designated as winter routes.

Cars parked in violation may be ticketed and towed to a towing company compound.

Winter routes are marked by signs but can also be found in the city's Know Your Zone app or the address lookup tool.