An offshoot of a winter storm system that crippled Denver and parts of the U.S. Midwest roared through southern Manitoba Saturday night and early Sunday morning, stranding motorists and clogging streets and highways with over 30 centimetres of heavy, wet snow. The storm closed the Trans-Canada Highway for several hours Sunday east of Winnipeg to the Ontario border due to poor visibility and bad road conditions. Dozens of church services were cancelled and the Winnipeg Meals on Wheels cancelled meal deliveries for local seniors because many streets were impassable. Manitoba's Transportation Department issued an advisory Sunday that several rural highways were in poor driving condition and some Winnipeg emergency crews pleaded with motorists to stay off city streets so fire trucks and ambulances could get through, if needed. An army of snow plows headed out onto Winnipeg streets during the storm to tackle the large drifts of snow that mired vehicles and forced city transit buses to drop some routes and run at least 20 minutes behind schedule.
"All our neighbours are out with their snowblowers," laughed Christine Alongi, a spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Airports Authority who was snowed-in like many of her neighbours. "They've cleared the street and the driveways so we're able to move around. And a lot of people have four-wheel drives," she said.
With the help of specially-designed snow clearing equipment, Alongi said crews at the airport managed to keep up with the heavy snowfall, and all runways remained open. But she said extra time for de-icing aircraft resulted in a few delays for the airlines.