Several schools, highways closed in western Manitoba as winter finally hits
Snowy, icy and windy conditions have created hazardous driving in many areas of western Manitoba on Wednesday as a jolt of winter arrived overnight.
A long stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway 1, from the town of Austin to the Saskatchewan Border is closed in both directions, along with a number of others from as far north as Camperville and as far south as Minto.
DON'T MISS: Major winter storm takes nasty toll on parts of the Prairies, here's what's left
A constantly updated and interactive map, showing all highway conditions, is available on the Manitoba government website.
A significant winter storm, moving into Manitoba from Saskatchewan, is bringing heavy snowfall to a swath of the province.
The conditions on Highway 10 through Riding Mountain National Park just before 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The image is from a Manitoba Government highway camera. (manitoba511.ca)
After a long, unseasonably warm fall, "the switch has been flipped," Chris Murphy, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, said Wednesday morning on CBC News Network.
A winter storm warning from Environment Canada covers the entire border, while a snowfall warning is in place for South Indian Lake and Amisk Provincial Park in the more central part of Manitoba.
The warning calls for widespread snowfall amounts of 15–25 centimetres, with some heavier local accumulations as high as 30-50 cm by Wednesday evening, along with northerly winds gusting to 60 km/h and causing poor visibility.
Conditions will improve through the day Wednesday as the snow tapers off and winds diminish, the weather agency said.
RELATED: 3 major lows bring wet, wicked or wintry weather to most of Canada
School and bus cancellations
The difficult conditions have also impacted many schools with cancellations of bus service or classes entirely.
All schools are closed in the following divisions:
Southwest Horizon.
Beautiful Plains.
Park West.
Fort La Bosse.
Rolling River.
Prairie Spirit.
Mountain View.
All schools in Region A of Prairie Rose School Division.
Brandon School Division buses are not operating outside the city, which means Alexander and O'Kelly schools, and the Spring Valley Colony School, are closed for the day. Schools within the city are open but attendance is at parental discretion where travel is required.
The Franco-Manitoban School Division has cancelled classes for the day at École Saint-Lazare, École Jours de Plaine (Laurier), École La Source (Shilo), and École Notre-Dame de Lourdes.
Classes are on but buses are not running for École communautaire Gilbert-Rosset (Saint-Claude).
Snow is also expected to eventually arrive in Winnipeg, though not quite as much as out west.
The city, and most areas in the Red River Valley, have had a wet 24 hours. Areas just north of the Trans-Canada Highway corridor received 10-20 millimetres while areas south of it had closer to 20-30 mm, according to Environment Canada.
The rain will change to snow from southwest to northeast through Wednesday. Accumulations by evening will likely range up to 5 centimetres near Lake Winnipeg and as high as 10-15 cm in the western Red River Valley.
This article was originally published for CBC News.
Thumbnail image courtesy: Chelsea Kemp/CBC
