“The worst is over, for the most part, for the Western Red River Valley, but the aftermath of this Thanksgiving Weekend winter storm will take days to deal with,” said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Saturday morning.

Winter Storm warnings have ended for the Western Red River Valley and Pembina Valley, but remain in place for the far Southwestern corner of the province. The Colorado Low which has been pounding the province since Thursday, will have one last hurrah today, before finally starting to weaken tonight.

“According to Environment Canada data, accumulations of 40 to 60 cms have been reported in much of Western Manitoba and the Western Red River Valley,” noted Sumner. “A further 5 to 15 cms of heavy wet snow is expected throughout Saturday in the Warning areas, and gusty northerly winds will continue up to 60 kilometers per hour.”

Visibility and road conditions will once again be an issue Saturday, and many highways throughout the province remain closed this morning (as of 6:30 a.m.) including Hwy 75 from Winnipeg to the U.S. border, the Trans Canada from Headingley to west of Brandon in the Griswold area.

“There are also many other highways closed across the Province, so sticking close to home will be about the only option today in many areas.”

This massive storm will finally begin to weaken later Saturday, and move out of the region by Sunday.

“Once this very early taste of winter wraps up, the attention of many municipalities will shift to overland flooding concerns,” added Sumner. “The snow which has fallen had a very high moisture content, plus significant rainfall also happened in far Southeastern areas. That combined means there will be a lot of moisture that will need to go somewhere in the coming days. Another factor will be the significant snowfall the Red River Valley received in the Dakotas. That water will also travel northward, potentially exacerbating the situation even further.”

In a news release issues Friday night, Manitoba Infrastructure’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre indicated it continues monitoring the situation. It also reported Waterways in the south and southeast section of the province, including the area of the Roseau River, Vita, Gardenton and Joubert Creek, are seeing the rain-snow mix influence river flows.  Levels have started to rise in these areas and could bring localized overland flooding of low-lying areas.