Spring snowstorm yes, another one rolls into southern Manitoba

Anotherspring snowstorm in southern Manitoba has tucked many roads and fields back under a fresh new blanket.

Nearly all ofsouthern Manitoba is under a warning that aslow-moving stormis expected to bring heavy snowfall and gusting winds that will whip up the fresh layersand create visibility issues.

Anywhere from 15 to 40 centimetres of snow is expected to fall after a Colorado low crossed into Canada Wednesday morning,Environment Canada forecast.

"You don't want to drive west. You don't want to go west of the Red River Valley, west of Portage la Prairie, on the highways today," CBC Manitoba meteorologist John Saudersaid Wednesday morning.

"I do think that some of those highways will be closingeven into Saskatchewan. That's where the worst of this is going to be as far as today is concerned."

While those areas dealt with a stormyWednesday, areas to the east from the Red River Valley, including Winnipeg andthe southInterlake, across to the Ontario border were largelyspared from the worst conditions.

But then there's Thursday.

The storm will push a second wave ofmoderate to heavysnow to southern Manitoba, Environment Canada said.

That system is expected to bringanother10 to 20 centimetresof snow, roughly from Brandon to the Ontario border, whichprompted Environment Canada to issue a snowfall warninglate Wednesday afternoonfor almost all of southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg.

The snow will spread northwards into parts of southern Manitoba early Thursday morning, then east across the Red River Valley and southeasternManitoba through the day, the weather agency said.

The snow may not stick around too long, though, Sauder said.

"It's a complicated setup because a lot of this snow is melting, because we've had some sunshine, we've had some warm temperatures. There is some heat in the ground, so it'll melt on contact," hesaid.

"So snowfall accumulation amounts are really tough to peg down at this point."

Below normal temperatures are forecast in the wake of the system, with single-digit highs.

"Normal high right now is 12 C. I see us at about 10 degrees below that for both days of the weekend, and overnight lows will be in that 8 C to 11 C range," Sauder said. "So it's going to be cold for a while."

Seasonal temperatures aren't expected to return untilthe middle of next week.