First storm of new winter season expected over weekend

Environment Canada is encouraging Manitobans to take the required preparations for the first winter storm of the season.

At 1:43 p.m. today, Environment Canada released a special weather statement for most of Manitoba. Indicating that the storm is expected to impact parts of the province beginning on Sunday and continuing into Monday.

The special weather statement is issued for:

R.M. of Cornwallis west of Shilo incl. Chater, Man.
Mun. of Oakland-Wawanesa incl. Carroll, Man.
Mun. of North Cypress-Langford incl. Neepawa and Carberry, Man.
Mun. of Glenboro-South Cypress incl. Treesbank, Man.
Mun. of North Norfolk incl. MacGregor Sidney and Austin, Man.
Mun. of Norfolk Treherne, Man.
R.M. of Victoria incl. Holland and Cypress River, Man.
Mun. of Grassland incl. Hartney and Minto, Man.
Mun. of Boissevain-Morton incl. Turtle Mtn Prov. Park, Man.
Killarney - Pilot Mound - Manitou, Man.
Mun. of Glenella-Lansdowne incl. Arden and Tenby, Man.
Mun. of WestLake-Gladstone incl. Plumas and Langruth, Man.

"We see the overall pattern that the prairies have been under, until about yesterday, has really shifted and dissipated out," says warning preparedness meteorologist, Natalie Hasell. "So now, we are in a pattern where low-pressure systems will, instead of travelling very far north or very far south of us, will actually travel through the prairies or through the northern plains and affect the Canadian prairies."

It is possible that parts of Manitoba could receive 5-15 cm of snow, however, due to the melting and compaction of the snow, the total snowfall is uncertain.

Precipitation will begin early Sunday morning, some areas will receive rain, and other areas will receive snow as the day carries on and into Monday. Freezing rain will also impact some areas of Manitoba.

There is potential for power disruptions and outages during the storm as well.

Manitobans are being cautioned of reduced visibility when travelling on highways, icy roads from freezing rain, and a high accumulation of wet snow and ice on infrastructure, particularly over the Riding Mountains and through the northern Interlake.

"This is a good reminder that it's not a bd time t get ready for the next season, this will kind of give us a taste of that, but perhaps people can get emergency kits together. If they already have an emergency kit, which is fantastic, check that nothing is expired in it, check that the contact lists in it are still up to date. If you've never put an emergency kit together, you can go to getprepared.gc.ca and that will give you lots of information, including what you need in an emergency kit for your home and what you need in an emergency kit for you car. Not all emergencies are weather related, but the emergency kit will help you deal with whatever comes and make it a little bit easier for you in your household."

Please continue to monitor alerts and forecasts issued by Environment Canada. To report severe weather, send an email to MBstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports using #MBStorm.

More weather details can be found here.

The latest status and details on all alerts, including alerts that are not part of your subscription, can be found here: http://www.weather.gc.ca/warnings/index_e.html