Blizzard Warning in effect, highways reopening throughout region

A Blizzard Warning has been issued for most of the Red River Valley including the Morden, Winkler, Carman, Emerson, Morris, Steinbach and Vita regions. Blizzard warnings are issued when widespread reduced visibilities of 400 metres or less are expected for at least 4 hours. Travel is expected to be hazardous this morning due to significantly reduced visibility in blowing snow, down to near zero at time times. A Blowing Snow Advisory remains in effect for the Carman, Portage, and Brunkild regions.

"As expected, intense northwesterly winds developed late Thursday evening, and have picked up the snowfall we received yesterday," explained CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner. "Reports indicate 5 to 10cms was received in the Warning areas Thursday, and that's more than enough to produce blowing snow on just a breezy day, let alone what we're seeing this morning."

Northwesterly gusts up to 70 km/h are expected until noon, with conditions expected to improve later Friday morning as winds start to weaken.

Most highways across the region had reopened as of 9:30 a.m., but are still reporting partly snow covered conditions with blowing and drifting sow leading to poor to fair visibility.

For the latest road report information and cancellations, click here.

"Today's gusty winds are part of a strong cold front moving through the province which will usher in another shot of Arctic air," said Sumner. "Temperatures will fall to the -20 to -22 range by this afternoon, with wind chill values in the mid -30s for much of the day. Saturday will a little warmer, but still well below average for this time of year, topping out around -17 to -19, with average daytime highs around -7 for this point in February."

Looking ahead to Sunday, Sumner noted another Alberta clipper will possibly impact Southern Manitoba, with the forecast models showing another round of snow and windy conditions.

"Currently, it looks like 5-ish cms of snow will be on the agenda, with winds up to 60 km/h both ahead of the lows arrival, and after it passes on the backside. We'll be keeping an eye on this one, too."

Below average temperatures will be the theme for much of next week, according to Sumner, with highs between -15 to 20 for much of it.