Snow and sleet are expected to continue across the southern half of the county on Thursday, but the low-pressure system responsible for the drastic return of winter is beginning to weaken, Environment Canada says. A total of five to 10 centimeters of snow – instead of the originally planned 10-15 centimeters – is possible across the Red River Valley, including Winnipeg, and southeastern Manitoba on Thursday. “[We] “We can see the slow decay of this storm,” said Dan Fulton, senior meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Winnipeg area received a total of 25cm on Wednesday as the storm hit for the first time. Fulton believes some parts of western Manitoba had more than that, but official figures are still pending. The west should have a much easier day, with only two to five inches for Thursday, according to the Environment Canada forecast. Dauphin and the Interlake area are expected to get another five to 10 inches. Some unofficial amounts of snowfall from Wednesday were announced on Thursday:

Brandon: 12 cm. Virden: 15 cm. Gimli: 20-25 cm. Morden: 30+ cm. Agios Klimis: 31 cm. Mountain riding area: 30-40 cm.

Fulton expects that by the end of the storm, total snowfall will be 30-35 cm in southern Manitoba. More shovels will be needed in southern Manitoba on Thursday, but not as much as on Wednesday, as snowfall is expected to be significantly lower. (Jeff Stapleton / CBC)
Forecasts had suggested an area of ​​30-50 cm but closer to 80 cm along the higher altitudes of Riding Mountain and Turtle Mountain. “The storm did almost what we thought – maybe not so much snow. I always thought 80cm was a bit too much, but I guess we’ll see when the money comes in,” said CBC Manitoba meteorologist John Sauder. “It was not the storm of ’97, it was not the 48cm we had 25 years ago, but it is still a significant snowfall. And we have not escaped yet, we still have to be careful.” People in larger cities, protected by larger buildings, may not have realized how much worse the conditions were beyond the city limits, he said. A man walks on a street in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday morning. The winds will still be strong on Thursday, causing stormy conditions in the southern half of the province. (Trevor Brine / CBC)
Deb Bauche, who lives just north of the International Peace Garden on the Canada-US border southwest of Winnipeg, near Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, is a witness. “We have a five-foot avalanche in the southern part of our deck that is almost in contact with the one coming out of the roof,” he said. “This morning when I got up there it was not snowing at all, but it was blowing a lot. And we just looked outside and now it is snowing very hard and the visibility has decreased. As John said, he comes in bands. the night. “It’s the weirdest storm.” The few blizzard warnings in western Manitoba for much of the week have been rejected by Environment Canada and have been replaced by winter storm warnings that cover almost everywhere else in the south. Wind gusts continue to be strong at times – almost 60 km / h in the Brandon area and about 50 in Winnipeg and the surrounding area – increasing fresh snowfall, Sauder said. As a result, traveling on highways can be difficult or impossible, especially on Thursday mornings, says Environment Canada. More than two dozen highways or freeway sections are closed due to poor driving conditions. Information on the ever-changing road conditions can be found on the provincial website. “We will still see strong winds stay with us. They are starting to shift a little further northwest this afternoon, so I expect it to be 30 km / h with gusts of up to 50 km / h.” said Sander. The wind will gradually drop as the snow falls by Friday, he said. “I think Friday is a day when we will see better visibility and we will start to see some of these highways open.”

Air flight schedules

Tyler MacAfee, vice president of the Winnipeg Airport Authority, said most flights were still canceled on Thursday morning. “Many of them are because the planes did not get in yesterday. The airlines precautionarily canceled almost everything yesterday, so we are seeing cancellations until noon this morning,” he said. Beyond that, however, it is still a conjecture right now. “It’s really hard to say. As everyone knows, Mother Nature has her own plan,” MacAfee said. “If you are planning to travel today, make sure you monitor your flights closely.” Arrivals and departures information is available on the WAA website, but “the best thing people can do is talk to their airline,” MacAfee said. “Each airline will treat passengers differently depending on their flight schedule and availability,” he said. If your flight is still scheduled to take off, give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport, MacAfee said.