A persistent snow squall brought heavy amounts of lake-effect snow downwind of Lake Winnipeg on the weekend, prompting Environment Canada to issue a snow squall warning for the region.
From the Prairie and Arctic Storm Prediction Centre (PASPC) at 2pm CDT:
DISCUSSION... PRAIRIES... BELOW SEASONAL TEMPERATURES CONTINUE ACROSS ALBERTA. WEAK SYSTEM WILL SPREAD A FEW CM OF SNOW ACROSS ALBERTA TODAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SOME FREEZING RAIN OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA TONIGHT. COOL TEMPERATURES, WITH OCCASIONAL FLURRIES, ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THIS WEEK AND INTO NEXT WEEKEND. THE LAKE WINNIPEG SQUALLS WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF TODAY AS THE WINDS TURN MORE WESTERLY AND WEAKEN, BRINGING RELIEF TO THE AREAS IN THE LEE THAT HAVE SEEN UPWARDS OF 40 CM OF SNOW OVER THE PAST 36 HOURS.
A brisk northwest flow over the warm 8-10C waters of the lake combined with cold -10C temperatures aloft saw 25 cm of snow Saturday night in addition to 5cm that had fallen Saturday afternoon and then another 10+cm on Sunday in the Berens River area.
GOES-16 Satellite Imagery picked up the snow squall at its peak intensity, which saw 15+cm of snow falling in 12 hours. At its peak, snowfall rates of 4cm an hour were occurring Sunday morning and saw visibility below 200 meters at times on the Berens River airport camera.
Final Snowfall totals of around 60cm were observed at the airport for the weekend, with a 49cm snow depth reported at the airport on the auto station. Winds have changed direction brought an end to the heavy lake effect snow for the Berens River and will slowly end for the region Monday.
For Satellite and Web camera data for Berens River and Manitoba, visit:
https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?parms=subregional-ca_s_mb_sk-13-24-0-100-1&checked=map&colorbar=data