Snow slams Manitoba’s Westman region as city escapes blast of winter

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This article was published 03/03/2024 (947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Westman region of Manitoba got walloped by a blizzard Sunday morning, closing highways and threatening power supplies.

Winnipeg is expected to escape the worst.

The low-pressure system which came in from Saskatchewan late Saturday blanketed much of western Manitoba from the international border to Swan River, said Environment Canada meteorologist Justin Shaer.

“Snow just continues to pile on there, and compounding the problem are some strong northeast winds with gusts up to 70 kilometres an hour,” he said.

Due to high winds, the quantity of snowfall has not yet been realized, Shaer said.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, parts of highways 5, 45, 83, 366 and 482 were closed.

Winnipeg and the surrounding regions were saved from the snowfall Sunday morning and instead got freezing rain and strong winds because of warm air in the system that moved east.

On Saturday, Environment Canada issued a winter storm warning to all southern and central areas of Manitoba, promising up to 40 centimetres of snow in the western part of the province, the Interlake and the eastern side of Lake Winnipeg.

Shaer said in Winnipeg, the rain will turn to snow Sunday evening, but residents shouldn’t expect to see too much precipitation Monday morning.

“We’ll just be dealing with some reasonably strong northwest winds and blowing snow in the open areas on the highways and stuff, but the heavy snow will be pushed off into northern northwest Ontario,” the meteorologist said.

Environment Canada said the freezing rain could cause ice build-up, resulting in slippery roads and power outages.

After the storm passes, the province’s flood forecasters will analyze precipitation amounts and factor them into a new spring flood outlook. On Friday, the province said the current risk of flooding across the province was low to moderate.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca