Manitobans in southern parts of the province are cleaning up the aftermath of a Colorado Low that gave them their first storm of the season.
In the province’s capital, it was great news and great timing for children who had the day off from school.
“The boys … saw the first snowfall when they woke up, and they thought, let’s go tobogganing, so we said, ‘OK, let’s go,'” Heather Horrocks, who was joined by her husband and seven and nine-year-old sons, told Global News on Friday.
“We watched some Remembrance Day services this morning, and then we decided to come out after that was over.”
Laughter and shrieks resounded from the top of Wellington Park hill, a popular spot for families like Chelsea Bamendine’s, whose kids love winter.
“She loves it,” Bamendine said, motioning to one of her neighbour’s children. “I’m sad,” she added with a laugh.
The snow combined with strong winds closed several highways overnight, rendering some roads treacherous.
CAA Manitoba saw a small spike in calls for service overnight, a spokesperson told Global News.
“We have completed a total of 81 rescues with 36 active live calls as of noon. Normal volume is about 50 rescues,” they said.
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Although snowfall amounts varied across the city, the storm dumped about 14 cm over Winnipeg, Scott Kehler with Weatherlogics told Global News.
“If you go farther south from the city to places like southeastern Manitoba, the amounts were as high as 25 cm in some areas, but if you went north of the city (in) a place like Gimli, got almost nothing,” Kehler, the company’s president and chief scientist, said.
But Winnipeg’s first snowfall was quite enough to surprise Theophile Tuyisingize, who was shovelling outside his Fort Rouge home with his nieces.
“I was not ready to clean the snow this morning, so when I woke up, when I looked outside, it was just a surprise. (It) was just all white outside, and I just had to get out and clean it off,” Tuyisingize said.
Across the street, his neighbour Myriam Bara was also busy shoveling in front of her house.
“I have a sixteen-month-old daughter, and she was really excited this morning, so I’ll clear everything out so we can come out and play this afternoon,” Bara said.
Residential areas like theirs haven’t been cleared yet, but as of late Friday afternoon, the city’s website said a majority of major routes had been plowed, with non-regional bus routes, collector streets and residential neighbourhoods to follow.
With below-zero temperatures in the forecast, Kehler says the snow is likely here to stay.
“If we do get another storm, then we won’t really see that grass again for quite a while.”
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