Snowfall warnings in effect ahead of early wintery blast

An early blast of wintery weather is expected to move into Manitoba this week, bringing an end to a busier-than-usual construction season in Winnipeg.

Winter can’t come soon enough for Mack Parman, a co-owner of Eadha Bakery Worker Co-op, an Ellice Avenue sourdough shop that’s been plagued by road construction.

Parman said they needed to close for 10 days due to no access to the shop which took a bite out of business.

"We definitely lost a lot of profits from all that, just not being able to be open,” Parman said.

It was a busy summer in terms of road construction.

“Crews have undertaken over 200 projects this year and that includes like reconstruction projects,” Ken Allen, communications coordinator for the city's public works department, told CTV News.

But incoming snow and cold temperatures are putting a freeze on road work.

In an abrupt end to the fall weather, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued a snowfall warning Tuesday for parts of southern Manitoba, including Brandon, Morden, Winkler and Virden.

It notes a Montana low-pressure system will begin to spread into southwestern Manitoba Wednesday morning before moving on to the Red River Valley in the afternoon.

It’s expected to taper off overnight.

ECCC notes areas close to the American border will see the highest amounts with 24-hour total snowfall accumulations close to 20 cm.

It won’t end there.

The agency said the same area is expected to get another ‘snowfall event’ starting Thursday night.

“This early snowfall is a reminder that winter is just around the corner, and residents are encouraged to prepare for winter driving conditions and falling temperatures,” ECCC writes in the warning.

It warns rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some areas. Surfaces like highways, roads, walkways and parking lots could become difficult to manage.

Allen said the city is ready for whatever snowfall is received.

“When the snow starts to fly, you can expect to see our salting crews out addressing sections of main routes, bus routes, collector streets, bridges and underpasses to work to improve traction,” he said.

“For tomorrow, when the weather turns, motorists should start driving to those winter driving conditions, slow down and allow additional stopping distance.”

Allen said the city is also making improvements to snow clearing this year, bringing in 15 new sidewalk plows to help clear pathways.

“In the past, we've cleared them once eight centimetres of snow has accumulated,” he said, adding there has been a change to that policy. "Now we're going to be working to clear those residential sidewalks and paths once we accumulate only five centimetres of snow.

"So you're going to see those residential sidewalks and pathways cleared more frequently, depending on the type of snow we get.”

As for the construction projects, the city says about 90 per cent of the planned work is or will be completed in the upcoming weeks, while some may need to carry over into 2024.

Parman is grateful the sound of jackhammering has been replaced with the hum of the bakery as it gets back to helping people break bread.

“Get some of our regulars to come on back if they didn't realize that we're open, some new people if they wanted to try us," Parman said.