Winnipeg got 15 cm of snow but city decided to delay plowing

Winnipeg streets were amok with stuck buses and slow-moving vehicles as the city was walloped by a major early spring snow fall – a situation some say was made worse by a city decision to delay plowing.

The calendar may say that it's spring, but Winnipeg and southern Manitoba have been hit with a very winter-like snowstorm.

"Well, it is Manitoba – it is what it is," said Jamie Erb, who was out clearing snow Wednesday morning. "We knew the snow was coming for a while, so not surprising."

Environment and Climate Change Canada says Winnipeg got hit by roughly 15 centimetres of snow. Even more fell outside city limits. The dumping of snow left 102 buses stuck at some point throughout the day, and caused 141 buses to run at least five minutes late as of Wednesday evening.

The city says its plowing operation started at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, several hours after the snow began piling up.

That meant plows were on major roads during the morning rush hour and drivers had to navigate through snow-covered streets.

"Normally I figured they did do it at night, especially the main routes," said Andrea Mensforth, who was navigating the snowy roads in Winnipeg on Wednesday. "I guess they have a different plan now."

The City of Winnipeg says this was part of its milder temperature snowfall plan. Instead of sending plows overnight, it sends spreader trucks out onto priority one roads putting down salt.

Ken Allen, with the City of Winnipeg, said the salting serves as a bond breaker between the snow and the pavement below.

"As you can see by the results today, even streets that haven't been truck plowed last night but were salted last night, they're wet," he said. "You can see the snow is melting and because of that melting action the plowing of the streets is going to be more effective overall."

While Winnipeg was hit with about 15 centimetres of snow, communities outside the Perimeter got hit harder.

One plow operator ended up in the ditch around Highway 59 as crews cleared away the roughly 20 centimetres of snow that fell south of the city.

And the storm's effects continued to be felt Wednesday evening.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing the winds starting to pick up, with gusts of up to 50 km/h in southern Manitoba, and so visibility is staying low," Kyle Fougere, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, told CTV News.

The strong wind is expected to last until Thursday morning, which means drivers could continue to face white out conditions on highways.