The Louis Riel Day long weekend begins with another Blizzard warning in Winnipeg and much of southern Manitoba.
After a few centimetres of fresh snow overnight, Environment Canada says it’s only going to get more blustery through the morning before it starts getting better through the afternoon – with a northwest wind gusting to 80 km/h blowing the snow around.
Visibility will be an issue on the highways as the storm picks up.
Earlier Friday morning, Environment Canada’s Brad Vrolijk told 680 CJOB the province will be hammered with powerful north winds.
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“The strongest winds will most likely come off Lake Manitoba and pass down through the Winnipeg-Portage corridor and then through the western Red River Valley towards the Emerson/Pembina crossing,” he said.
“That will probably be where the worst of the conditions are throughout the morning and afternoon.”
On top of all that, Vrolijk said, the cold weather is probably sticking around for the near future.
We may even see extreme wind chills come back tonight — so we might be heading right back into the freezer,” he said.
“An even stronger system comes through the region tomorrow. We’ll see strong southerly winds develop tomorrow morning, giving more blowing snow to the Red River Valley, with some falling snow moving in.
“It will be warmer, which will be nice, but then a very strong cold front comes through and the winds just blow the snow back the other way tomorrow evening.”
There are a few highways in western Manitoba, including a couple of stretches of the Yellowhead, that are already closed in spots.
Highway 75 is closed entirely, from Winnipeg to the U.S. border.
Many other highways closer to Winnipeg have snow packed, icy sections.
If you are heading out on the highway, check the Manitoba 511 highway map for the latest conditions.
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