Bitter cold is gone, now Manitoba faces snowstorms

For the first time in more than a week, southern Manitoba is getting a taste of normal winter temperatures the kind that don't make your face and teeth ache.

Instead, winter's getting ready to wallop parts of the province with snow.

The bitter Arctic air, which dropped temperatures across the entire province in the middle of last week and capped it withextreme cold and dangerous wind chills for much of this week, has finally lifted.

Highs of10 C to15 C are expected Friday and Saturday for the southern half of Manitoba, pretty close to the normal of11 Cfor this time of year.

Butthe central region of the province now faces alerts about heavy snowfall.

Aslow-moving disturbance is expected to leave as much as 30 centimetres west of Lake Manitoba, from the area around Riding Mountain National Park north to the top of Lake Winnipegosis,on Saturday.

Therapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations and cause poor visibility, says a winter storm watch issued by Environment Canada.

Meanwhile, the Interlake and the region east of Lake Winnipeg are under a special weather statement that forecasts up to 20 cm of snow before the system tapers off Saturday evening.

The band of snow is just north of Winnipeg, which isn't included in any of the alerts,but that doesn't mean the city is in the clear.

Another system, a snow-laden Colorado low,looks to be tracking across Minnesota and into southern Manitoba onSunday night and into Monday, CBC meteorologist JohnSaudersaid.

The potential exists for 10-20 cm of snowacross that area, including in Winnipeg, he said.

So Winnipeggers can set aside the extension cords forvehicles but make sure to getshovels ready.

Although the extreme cold warnings have lifted for those living in the province's northern half, they arestill enduring temperatures around30 C and wind chills in the range of40 to47.