Southern Manitoba is bracing for another round of snow and strong winds this weekend, following a Friday storm that shut down highways and stranded drivers for hours.
Environment Canada warns that bitter cold and fresh snowfall, combined with gusty winds, could once again reduce visibility and create dangerous travel conditions through Saturday night and into Sunday.
Saturday began with wind chills as cold as -36 and a high of only -18. Though the winds are expected to ease somewhat during the day, they will return overnight with a new system bringing fresh snowfall. About five centimetres of snow is expected to fall in the Winnipeg area Saturday night as temperatures rise slightly to -14 by morning. However, the reprieve will be short-lived.
On Sunday, winds will shift to the north and increase sharply, with gusts up to 70 kilometres per hour. That, combined with new snow and existing accumulation, is expected to produce blowing snow and whiteout conditions, particularly in open areas. Temperatures will fall to -21 in the afternoon, with wind chills making it feel closer to -35. Frostbite remains a concern throughout the weekend.
Meteorologist Dan Riddle runs the Facebook page, Northern Plains Weather. He says in his forecast that the system bringing this weather is tracking from northern Saskatchewan to near Brandon by midnight Saturday, and then into west-central Minnesota Sunday morning.
Riddle says that 2 to 7 centimetres of snow will fall across a wide area, including parts of Manitoba, eastern North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota.
“Blizzard conditions [are] likely Sunday,” Riddle says, “especially in areas with snow on the ground or new snowfall.”
Motorists are advised to continue monitoring highway conditions and to avoid unnecessary travel. Dozens of highways in Manitoba remain closed following Friday’s storm.
You can find the lates weather forecast and current conditions on the Jani-King Weather Page.
