"Thursday and Friday both look like fairly ugly days."

That is how Scott Kehler, President and Chief Scientist of Weatherlogics describes what southern Manitoba is in store for over the next couple of days.

According to Kehler, the storm system has tracked as expected. Here in the southeast, it started mid-morning on Wednesday in the form of rain mixed with snow. Kehler says the southeast can expect anywhere from five to 10 millimetres of rain today before the precipitation changes to snow. There could be higher amounts of rain near the Canada/ US border.

"Once the sun goes down we lose a source of heating for the ground and the ground will cool off and the snow will keep falling," explains Kehler. "So we should see the larger accumulations begin to build up Wednesday night and through the day Thursday."

Kehler says we will probably see heavy snow throughout the day on Thursday with gusty winds out of the north. With wind speeds of 70 kilometres per hour by Thursday night, Kehler says we can expect blowing snow.

"So if you have any travel plans Thursday or Friday you might want to consider changing them," he recommends.

Kehler says there will still be a bit of light snow Friday morning, though the strong winds will taper off through the day.

By the time conditions clear, Kehler says the southeast corner of the province will probably have received between 15 and 25 centimetres of the white stuff. The heaviest snowfall will likely be in the Parkland and Riding Mountain area where 30 to 50 centimetres is likely.

Meanwhile, Kehler says there could be more snow coming this weekend, but he notes amounts will be less and he is not anticipating a major storm. He says this system has pulled down a lot of cool air from the north which means cooler conditions will stick around.