A local meteorologist warns just because spring arrives today, that doesn't mean we are done with the winter weather.

Spring will be ushered in this morning at 11:15. Scott Kehler with Weatherlogics says it looks as though the start of spring will bring with it the continuation of a slow melt for southern Manitoba. Kehler says ever since the Colorado Low two weeks ago we have been locked in a near normal pattern with temperatures near the freezing mark during daytime hours. He says we can expect that trend to continue.

"Still no major warmups in store, just a fairly gradual melt," notes Kehler.

Even though there is a chance of some snow this week, Kehler says he doesn't anticipate any significant accumulations. However, that could all change next week. Kehler says there is a threat of a significant storm which could come anytime during Easter weekend or the first week of April. But he says at this point there is still a lot of uncertainty.

According to Kehler, as winter transitions to spring, there is always a risk of big storms forming. He notes if a storm does hit southern Manitoba next weekend, it could come as a Colorado Low. And because of the time of year, the precipitation could either fall as snow or rain. Kehler says if the storm tracks to our north, the precipitation will probably fall as rain, but if it tracks to the south, we would probably receive snow.

"I wouldn't hedge one way or another in terms of whether we get rain or snow," says Kehler. "Pretty much equal chance at this time of year for what precipitation type we end up with."

Meanwhile, Kehler says the reason why our daytime highs are not warmer, can probably be attributed to all of the snow we received in the Colorado Low earlier this month. He notes the snow is reflecting the sunlight, keeping temperatures lower.

"When you've got snow on the ground it's going to reflect about ninety percent of the sunlight because snow is very white," says Kehler. "As soon as we get rid of the snow, you are left with just bare soils which will absorb probably more like eighty percent or so of the sunlight."