Snowfall expected in Winnipeg but how much is hard to predict

The weather this weekend for Winnipeg and southern Manitoba could vary quite a bit because of the cold air mass sitting in northern Manitoba.

"This weekend we're looking at a complicated weather setup," says meteorologist Brad Vrolijk from Environment Canada. "The reason we haven't had snow over the past couple of days is because there's a very strong arctic high over northern Manitoba that just will not budge."

Vrolijk shares that this cold mass is keeping away much of the precipitation that has tried to move into southern Manitoba with a lot of dry air. 

"As snow has tried to push its way into the region, that dry air has been eating away at it and preventing it from actually reaching the ground."

At the beginning of the week, Environment Canada forecasted snow from Wednesday to Friday which has mostly been reduced to small amounts of snowfall on Wednesday. 

"Coming up this weekend we have the strongest system from any of the ones we've seen all week. It'll move into Saskatchewan tomorrow overnight and into southern Manitoba on Saturday. This system has the potential to produce a lot of snow."

Right now it looks like southern Saskatchewan will get the most snow with up to 20 cm over the weekend. 

"It also may end up getting pushed south of the border and primarily be a weather event for Montana and North Dakota. If that's the case, we may still see a little snow in Winnipeg, but more likely to be a light dusting."

If the system tracks north, Winnipeg could see between five to 10 centimetres of snow on Saturday. 

"By tomorrow morning we'll try to have the Manitoba forecast nailed down for everyone's weekend plans."