Neighbours south of the border are preparing for a major winter storm but questions still linger about if Manitobans will find themselves digging out in just a few days. 

A low-pressure system heading for North Dakota currently has forecasters calling for anywhere from 30 to 60 centimetres of snow to fall in the Grand Forks area on Thursday. Rain and freezing rain could possibly impact the region on Wednesday, before turning to heavy snow on Thursday. Winds from the north at 45 kilometres per hour with gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour will make travel even more difficult. Heavy snow at times is expected to occur throughout the afternoon and into the evening, before weakening on Friday.

Forecasters say it looks like most of Manitoba will escape the brunt of the snow, but caution that it is still too early to say for sure.

"Currently, it looks like it's just going to clip southeastern Manitoba," says meteorologist Shannon Moody with Environment Canada. "Ontario is going to be the province that bears the brunt of it but looking like Steinbach and the Whiteshell area could certainly see some snow."

Moody says at this point it looks like southeastern Manitoba could receive between 10 and 20 centimetres of snow.

According to Moody, Winnipeg and the capital region will not necessarily get away with missing the system completely. 

"I wouldn't say (Winnipeg will get) nothing," Moody says. "(Winnipeg) could certainly get some flurries with it."

She notes Manitoba's capital has so far been spared of any significant snow this season, unlike areas to the west and north.  

"Saskatchewan has just had system after system move through, central Manitoba has had a decent amount of snow, northern Manitoba, too," she says. 

But again, Moody cautions that it is still early, and the system could shift and have more of an impact on southern Manitoba.

"It's still a ways out; like we're looking at this starting Thursday afternoon into Friday," she adds.

Steinbach is expected to hit a high of 6 degrees on Tuesday, which is well above the average high of +1 for November 8. By Thursday, daytime highs will cool significantly, only reaching -5 on Thursday and then down to -7 on Saturday.