Winter has fallen in parts of Manitoba.
Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning, saying a major winter storm rolling through parts of northern Manitoba is expected to bring in excess of 30 centimetres to some areas by the time it’s done.
The hardest hit areas will be along a line from Flin Flon through Thompson. For other areas in the warning region, general snowfall amounts of 10-25 cm are expected, the weather agency says.
Specifically, Wabowden and Pukatawagan are expected to receive 20-plus centimetres, while Lynn Lake should see 5-10 cm.
“It’s wet, heavy snow. It’s just hard slugging … to get anywhere,” said Stuart McDowell, who lives in The Pas and says “there’s a lot of downed trees and a lot of downed branches” around the town.
Some trees have fallen in his yard but “thankfully” none have hit his house, he said.
“When I go home from work today, it’ll be a bit of cleanup and then assess the front yard and see what needs to get done on my days off coming up. “
The heavy snowfall accumulation, combined with strong winds, could also damage other structures before the storm tapers off in the afternoon or early evening, Environment Canada’s warning says.
Northerly winds are gusting up to 50 or 60 km/h, giving poor visibility at times blowing snow. Highway closures are almost certain and people should not travel, if possible, in the affected areas, the warning says.
Those who need to travel should prepare for quickly changing and deteriorating conditions. They should carry an emergency kit and mobile phone, and make sure others know where they are going and when they plan to arrive, so help can be sent if needed, the warning says.
Highway 391, from Leaf Rapids to Nelson House, has already been closed due to poor driving conditions, along with Highway 280, from Thompson to Split Lake, and Highway 6, from Thompson to Highway 39.
“We had a fairly intense storm move from Montana, kind of tracked along the Manitoba–Saskatchewan border [Sunday] as it moved north,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Fulton.
“And it brought some pretty substantial rain to parts of the province, but then it transitioned into snow over northern Manitoba as the system kind of tapped some colder air. So, some pretty heavy snow going through northern Manitoba right now.”
Elissa Bogdan, co-owner of Wekusko Falls Lodge, about 10 kilometres northeast of The Pas, said there’s going to be a lot of tree removal required in order for the roads to reopen in that area.
“Once the rain started to turn to snow, it got pretty heavy and wet. We lost power late in the evening and then with the silence in the homes, it was pretty easy to hear the trees starting to crack,” she said.
“We have a renter in one of our places up the road who asked me this morning who was shooting guns last night. And I said it wasn’t guns shooting, it was trees falling. She was really surprised at how loud it was.”
The town of Snow Lake, 15 kilometres south of Wekusko, posted a message on Facebook on Monday, asking residents to conserve water where possible.
The generator powering the water treatment plant has run out of fuel and the refueling truck is on the way but struggling due to the heavy snowfall.
The weather is also creating havoc for Manitoba Hydro, which says there are outages throughout eastern, northern and western Manitoba, affecting about 11,000 customers.
Wind, rain and trees making contact with wires have caused damage to lines, poles and other equipment, according to spokesperson Peter Chura.
“We have crews making their way from outage to outage but it will take time to find and make repairs in such a wide area. I can’t provide an estimated time for restoration.”
Crews will focus on repairs that will impact the most customers at once, so there could be extended outages through the day and into the night, as they make their way around, Chura said.
Bogdan said the Wekusko Falls Lodge has been without power since about 9 p.m. Sunday “and I’m not really sure how long that will last, but we are ourselves are preparing for a day or two without power.
“We’re thankful it’s not freezing temperatures, so we’re able to stay warm in our homes with very little power supply. But definitely people are going to be looking for hot food and warm showers somewhere.”
There is a silver lining in all the white stuff, however, Bogdan said.
“We were so dry all summer and we had a terrible fire season and we really needed the moisture,” she said.
“In spite of all of the damage — it would have been nicer if it came in the form of rain — we are thankful for the moisture because we really, really needed it.”
