The so-called "Polar vortex" is back and bringing winter’s first blast of icy air to the province.
Drivers looking to have winter tires installed in Winnipeg Monday faced long delays.
"They are lined up here,” said Ted Pilozow. “Right now it's about one o'clock. They're telling me to come back around eight o'clock tonight."
Staff at Canadian Tire near Polo Park were working extended shifts to keep up with demand.
"Everyone seems to be waiting for the snow to fly until they get their winter tires on, which is typical,” said Justin Jay during a quick break from work. “It's in our nature to procrastinate."
According to Environment Canada, an arctic high-pressure system has brought a blast of icy air into much of North America keeping the mercury below normal for much of Manitoba.
"We're not talking about anything a Winnipegger can't deal with,” said meteorologist Natalie Hasell. “They should be familiar with this, right? We can have snow as early as late September here."
The system did dump 20 centimetres of snow on parts of Alberta and forecasters said the U.S. midwest would get it next.
Meanwhile, Winnipeg escapes with only light snow.
"This is where the cold air is meeting the warmer air from the south and it's through this area where we are going to have a lot of precipitation,” said Hasell, pointing to a band of moisture stretching south through Alberta and then east to Minnesota.
The cold snap represents the beginning of the winter to come and staff at CAA Manitoba call it a good reminder to make sure you’re ready for the conditions.
"You never know how long it's going to be until help is on the way so it's always a good idea to have an emergency kit for an indefinite amount of time,” said CAA Manitoba spokesperson Angèle Young.
Environment Canada said the current cold snap shouldn’t be used to predict how the rest of the winter will go.
The seasonal forecast actually calls for milder than normal conditions over the next few months.
