UPDATE: as of 6:30 a.m., all highways closed due to weather in the area have reopened.

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A persistent northerly wind gusting to 70 km/h along with some light snow is producing poor driving conditions throughout much of Southern Manitoba. 

Portageonline.com has received numerous reports of vehicles in the ditch, as well as a multi-vehicle accident on Highway 14 just west of Plum Coulee. There is also poor visibility reported in many areas of the Trans-Canada Highway between Portage and Winnipeg.

A number of highways are now closed as of 9:00pm Tuesday evening:

Highway 13 from Carman to Elm Creek
Highway 75 from U.S. border to the perimeter highway at Winnipeg
Highway 244 from Notre Dame to Manitou
Hwy 3 from Sanford to Carman and then to the junction of Hwy 34 south of Crystal City 
Hwy 23 from Kane to Swan Lake
Hwy 14 from Hwy 75 to the junction of Hwy 3 and 14

For the latest Road Report and Cancellations, click here.

A strong cold front moving through the province today, coupled with some light snow, has put us in the position of significant blowing snow and reduced visibility," said CMOS Accredited Weathercaster Chris Sumner early Tuesday evening. "The snowfall comes courtesy of the outermost edges of a strong low that's moving through the Dakotas and Minnesota bringing much heavier precipitation to those regions."

Closer to home, northwesterly gusts up to 70 km/h began late in the afternoon, and are expected to continue well into the evening and overnight hours to Wednesday. 

"Winds will remain gusty well into Wednesday morning, albeit with a return to sunny conditions as high pressure builds into the area," added Sumner. "We can expect reduced visibility to be a concern into the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday before the wind backs off by Wednesday afternoon."

The return to blustery conditions is also bringing with it a return to below-average temperatures, something Southern Manitoba hasn't had for over a week.

"Arctic high pressure is sliding into our area, and with it, a much cooler air mass," he said. "Highs Wednesday and Thursday will be between -13 and -16, that's six to eight degrees below average for this time of year."

The cold weather won't last long, with temperatures expected to break above zero Friday, before settling around seasonal for the weekend.