Environment Canada issues weather warnings for freezing rain, winter storms and extreme cold

Climatologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada David Phillips provides his insight on the winter storms across the nation.

WINNIPEG — Some schools were closed in Manitoba on Wednesday as winter took yet another icy-cold stab at the Prairies.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says upwards of 25 centimetres was expected across much of southern and western Manitoba before tapering off early Thursday.

School divisions to the south of Winnipeg, including Prairie Rose, Red River Valley and Garden Valley, have all cancelled classes.

Most schools in the Brandon School Division were open, but buses were not running outside the city.

A weather system moving from the Northwest Territories and through the Prairies was set to bring wind chill temperatures that made some areas feel as cold as -40 C.

In Saskatchewan, commuters were told to avoid various highways in the province's southeast, east-central and some northern regions.

The City of Regina issued a parking ban on certain streets to allow crews to clear roads.

In Alberta, shovels and snowblowers were on full display as residents dug themselves out of Tuesday's winter wallop that grounded flights and closed sections of highways.

The Canadian Press