Environment Canada has confirmed that the amount of snow in southern Manitoba has been lower than originally forecasted. However, the province isn’t yet out of the woods as a Colorado low moves north.
Environment Canada spokesperson Natalie Hasell said that Winnipeg saw between 15 to 20 cms of snow on Wednesday morning before any break. She said that snow is expected to return later in the afternoon.
More accumulation is expected to occur later today. So 40 centimetres sounds quite reasonable. Hasell said that 50 centimetres is still possible. So, I wouldn’t discount anything when it comes down to the storm.
Environment Canada originally predicted Winnipeg would receive between 30-50 cm of snow.
The blizzard conditions remain in place for the Brandon region, which has been hard hit. Environment Canada has declared that the Westman area will be the most affected by the snow. Hasell reported that wind gusts as high as 80 km/h were reported at Brandon’s airport shortly after noon. Visibility was up to 200m.
She said that they didn’t expect the break to go west.
She stated, “The improvement in the rest of the province is approximately the same for the southwest corner.” It’s not much of an improvement. Maybe it’s worse, but we were expecting more precipitation in the southwest corner. And they won’t. They don’t get a break.
Lighter snow will continue falling overnight in Winnipeg and southeastern Manitoba. Friday’s snowfall will slow down as the system pushes eastward into northwestern Ontario.
FORECAST CALLS TO SLOW MELT, WON’T HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON RANOFF
While there is more snow in the forecast, temperatures that are colder will prevent significant runoff.
“The best thing that could happen is that we have a slow melting and that is what is forecast,” Doyle Piwnuik (minister of transportation and infrastructure) said.
“This snowfall should occur now, but it’s not supposed that it will melt until Tuesday when it actually gets a positive temperature. And it will be a slow melting. This is the best possible situation because the rivers will be able to recede within the next week.
According to the province, the slow melting snow will not have any immediate or significant impact on runoff. The province stated that runoff forecasts would be updated once it has more information about the snowfall.
-With files by Jill Macyshon
