The first blast of winter hit Manitoba Tuesday with snow and screaming winds. The storm is whipping its way south, dumping snow all along the way and is expected to reach Winnipeg by evening.
Winter weather warnings have been issued for Churchill and York area, with winds over 100 kilometres per hour and some snow producing white-out conditions today. Dale Marciski with Environment Canada said a very intense low presure system over Hudson Bay is producing the winds, but the temperature is not cold enough yet to be considered a blizzard. The temperature is steady at about 0 C but with the windchill effect, it feels like -12 C, he said.
A pedestrian tries to keep dry and warm on Glenwood Crescent during the first snowfall off the season in Winnipeg Tuesday. More snow was expected tonight.
A winter storm watch has been issued for the region surrounding Lake Winnipeg as well. Snowfalls of up to 15 cm are expected in areas around Arborg, and 10 cm from Dauphin to Portage la Prairie, northeast to Beausejour and as far east as Thunder Bay, Marciski said.
Roads were closed through Riding Mountain National Park for about an hour earlier today when park officials saw the snow and erred on the side of caution, said Neil Gobelle, Manitoba’s highway information manager. Park officials reopened roads when Manitoba Transportation and Government Services advised them that road surfaces are too warm and snow accumulations too light to affect driving conditions, Gobelle said.
In Winnipeg, light snow is expected in Winnipeg tonight, with a few flurries for tomorrow. Temperatures are expected to warm up to 9 C by the end of the week, but that’s still below normal. Winnipeg at this time of year usually has high temperatures of 12 or 13 C.
Winnipeg’s first snowfall of two centimetres or more doesn’t usually happen till Nov. 2. Last year, however, Winnipeg received more than five cm of snow on Oct. 5. The good news is that snow in October doesn’t usually stay on the ground, Marciskis said.
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