By Canadian Press

Winter storm warnings in place for much of southern Manitoba, parts of Saskatchewan

Apr 13, 2022 | 3:02 AM

A storm Environment Canada has said has the potential to be the “worst blizzard in decades” is taking aim at parts of the Prairies, with winter storm warnings in place for much of southern Manitoba and parts of southeastern Saskatchewan.

As much as 30 to 50 centimetres of snow is expected for the region by Friday, along with winds reaching up to 90 km/h, while the western escarpment of the Red River Valley, the Riding Mountains, and the Turtle Mountains could see as much as 80 cm of accumulation.

The weather agency is urging people not to travel, saying even moving within communities may become impossible by Wednesday evening.

RCMP said it would close all major highways in southern Manitoba overnight in anticipation of the storm, but as of 4 a.m. CDT only Highway 75 south of Winnipeg had been shut down.

Both Air Canada and WestJet cancelled scheduled flights to and from Winnipeg on Wednesday.

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A school division serving southeastern Saskatchewan closed its schools for the week, and all Winnipeg school divisions cancelled school bus transportation for Wednesday and Thursday in anticipation of bad road conditions.

Environment Canada said conditions should begin to improve on Friday, although it also warned cleanup from the storm will likely last well into next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2022.

The Canadian Press