Winter weather welcomed by Manitobans ready to embrace the cold
Manitobans who were eagerly anticipating wintry weather finally got their wish this weekend.
The recent snowfall has left some business owners springing into action as up 15 centimetres of snow fell in southern areas of the province.
"The guys were eager to go out, they've been sitting around watching the grass continue to grow almost," said Bjorn Nelson, the owner of the Winnipeg snow-clearing business Bjorn's Mow and Snow.
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The company has around 300 customers in northeast Winnipeg. Nelson said crews were out clearing snow from about 2 to 10 a.m. Saturday.
"The snow industry, it's got its ups and downs, so we got the gaps in between snow events," he said.
"But when it's time to go, it's no sleep until [we've'] taken care of all the customers and make sure everyone's home safe."
Stephen McLean is in his first year as the ice maker at Wildwood Community Club in Winnipeg. (Gary Solilak/CBC)
The system of snow that moved through the eastern prairies has started to move off, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Keane Kokolsky.
He said some areas in western Manitoba including Wasagaming and Pilot Mound got more than 10 centimetres of snow. Dauphin saw 10 about centimetres and Brandon saw about four centimetres.
About six centimetres of snow fell in Winnipeg, he said.
"It's difficult to interpret how long the snow will stick around, whether it be for the entire winter or not," Kokolsky said.
"But we are seeing a kind of more normal seasonal trend now in terms of temperatures moving into the region and that should be here until early next week."
Though the overnight snowfall also comes the cleanup for those getting ready to set up outdoor rinks. It's something Stephen McLean knows all about.
The freshly cleared rink surface at Wildwood Community Centre is ready to be flooded with water. (Gary Solilak/CBC)
McLean is in his first year as the ice maker at Wildwood Community Centre. He said he welcomes the colder weather.
In a good year the ice would be ready for the second week of December, he said, but he's hoping to have the rink ready for the holidays.
"Snow actually is a bit of an enemy of ice making," he said.
"A little bit is fine when you're getting started, but this much you gotta get it cleared all off before we can put new water down or else the quality of ice isn't very good."
McLean said he hopes to start making ice starting Sunday. He also said people have been understanding about the lack of ice due to the warmer weather.
"Up until yesterday we saw nothing but grass, but now that we got a nice blanket people will be looking over wondering how long it'll be for sure," he said.
Thumbnail courtesy of Josh Crabb/CBC.
The story was originally written and published for CBC News. It contains files from Josh Crabb.