Manitoba extreme cold warning continues, blizzard warning in north

UPDATE: Extreme cold warnings in southern Manitoba ended at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The northern Manitoba blizzard warning remained in effect.

WINNIPEG – Southern Manitoba continued to deal with a deep freeze Tuesday morning as an Arctic air mass remained settled over the Prairies.

The southern half of the province was under an extreme cold warning as overnight temperatures below -30 C combined with winds of 15 to 20 kilometres per hour to produce wind chill values of -40 to -45.

Wind chills are expected to drop later Tuesday morning, with temperatures forecast to rise above -30 C.

At the same time, the Churchill and York regions along the shores of Hudson Bay are under a blizzard warning. Blizzard conditions are expected to develop in those areas early Wednesday evening, with northwesterly winds gusting to 70 km/h developing. The winds, which are forecast to last until Thursday morning, will cause poor visibilities in blowing snow.

Areas affected by the extreme cold warning are:

• Winnipeg,
• Brandon, Carberry, Treherne,
• Portage la Prairie, Headingley, Brunkild, Carman,
• Morden, Winkler, Altona, Emerson, Morris,
• Selkirk, Gimli, Stonewall, Woodlands, Eriksdale,
• Steinbach, St. Adolphe, Dominion City, Vita, Richer,
• Virden, Souris,
• Whiteshell, Lac du Bonnet, Pinawa,
• Minnedosa, Neepawa, Russell, Riding Mountain National Park,
• Dugald, Beausejour, Grand Beach,
• Dauphin, Roblin, Winnipegosis,
• Melita, Boissevain, Turtle Mountain Provincial Park,
• Swan River, Duck Mountain, Porcupine Provincial Forest,
• Sprague, Northwest Angle Provincial Forest,
• Killarney, Pilot Mound, Manitou,
• Ste. Rose, McCreary, Alonsa, Gladstone,
• Poplar River,
• Grand Rapids,
• Bissett, Nopiming Provincial Park, Pine Falls,
• Arborg, Hecla, Fisher River, Gypsumville, Ashern,
• Berens River, Little Grand Rapids, Bloodvein, Atikaki,
• Kenora and Nestor Falls, Ont.

Environment Canada issues extreme cold warnings when very cold temperatures or wind chill create an elevated risk of health issues such as frost bite or hypothermia.