Another round of snowfall is expected to arrive in Southwestern Manitoba Thursday afternoon and into Friday. Snowfall Warnings are in place for the entire region, as far east as the Pilot Mound and Manitou areas.

 

“A low pressure system moving through Saskatchewan, and diving into the U.S., will be responsible for this latest flurry of flakes,” said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. “The current track of this storm is keeping the heaviest band of snow in the southwestern part of the province, where 10 to 15cms is possible by the time things wrap up Friday afternoon.”

 

Sumner noted the further east you go past Manitou, the less snow is forecast with the Morden and Winkler areas expecting 2 to 5cms from this system.

 

“Flurries will start Thursday afternoon, with the snowfall really picking up tonight and overnight,” said Sumner. “At this point we're expecting light snow to last until late morning, or early Friday afternoon, but the bulk of the snowfall is expected to have dropped before sunrise Friday. It's pretty likely you'll need a shovel to clean off the front or back step tomorrow morning.”

 

We can also expect some ground drifting once the snow begins, through Friday as northerly winds range from 20 to 30km/h, Sumner does not expect widespread blowing snow.

 

“Those northerly winds will also bring a return to cooler than average conditions today and Friday, with warmer daytime highs returning for the weekend,” he said.”

 

Average daytime highs for this time of January are -11, with overnight lows around -22. Weekend temperatures will be around -4 to -7 daytime.

 

“And for those hoping the warmer temperatures will stick around, unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it will be the case,” said Sumner. “A ridge of arctic high pressure is expected to build into the Prairies early next week, and that will mean another stretch of cold weather for Southern Manitoba. Early indications are we’ll see highs slide to the -20s by Wednesday or Thursday.”