The first major winter snow storm of the season has begun in southern Manitoba according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The weather agency said as of 4 p.m. the storm was active in the southwest corner of the province.
“Very intense thundersnow by Melita,” said Meteorologist Alysa Pederson in a phone call with CTV News.
“It’s very conductive,” she said. “Very heavy rapid snowfall combined with lightning in those clouds.”
Winnipeg crews ready
Depending on how the winter storm materializes, the City of Winnipeg could deploy around 200 pieces of equipment to clear snow and keep roads safe for motorists.
Sunday morning crews had finished mounting plow blades on trucks and were filling others with salt.
Ken Allen is with the city’s public works department. He said the team is monitoring forecasts. When the snow comes crews will tackle the busiest roads first.
Allen said the primary line of defence on the roads will be salt, not sand because of the mild temperatures.
"It's one of the things the city does best. We have a group of snow clearing operations we call snow fighters," said Allen.
He said some crews were already out Sunday salt spotting streets, bridges and underpasses.
Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a snowfall warning for Winnipeg.
Fifteen to 20 centimetres of snow is expected.
The weather agency says a Colorado Low will spread several waves of heavy snow over portions of southern Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan Sunday through Monday.
“Storm total snowfall with this system will generally fall into the 10 to 20 centimetre range, however localized regions could see total snowfall accumulations possibly reach 20 to 25 centimetre,” ECCC said.
Snowfall is expected to gradually taper off Monday afternoon through Tuesday.
