FREEZING RAIN MONDAY FOLLOWED BY RAIN AND SNOW. THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WINTER WEATHER EXISTS OVER THESE REGIONS.

AN INTENSIFYING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE DAKOTAS MONDAY. GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM WILL CARRY MILDER AIR AS WELL AS MIXED PRECIPITATION THROUGH SOUTHERN MANITOBA ON MONDAY. FREEZING RAIN WILL CROSS INTO SOUTHERN MANITOBA IN THE EARLY HOURS OF MONDAY AND THEN SPREAD NORTHWARD THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. EITHER RAIN OR SNOW, OR A MIX OF THE TWO, WILL FOLLOW THIS BAND OF FREEZING RAIN MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. OVER WINNIPEG AND THE RED RIVER VALLEY, FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED MONDAY MORNING FOLLOWED BY RAIN MONDAY AFTERNOON. RAIN IS OF COURSE A RARE OCCURRENCE FOR MANITOBA IN FEBRUARY. OVER WESTERN SECTIONS INCLUDING BRANDON AND DAUPHIN, FREEZING RAIN IS ALSO FORECAST FOR EARLY MONDAY MORNING, BUT THIS WILL BE REPLACED WITH A MIX OF SNOW AND RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. THE FREEZING RAIN WILL MAKE IT THROUGH CENTRAL MANITOBA LATER MONDAY MORNING FOLLOWED BY SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY EXCEED 10 CM ON MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL VARY ONLY A FEW DEGREES EITHER SIDE OF THE ZERO MARK ON MONDAY WHICH MAKES THE TIMING OF THE CHANGES BETWEEN PHASES OF PRECIPITATION DIFFICULT AND THE EXACT SEQUENCE OF THIS PRECIPITATION EVENT IS STILL UNCERTAIN. SOME AREAS OF MANITOBA MAY SEE AN ICE STORM WITH AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN MONDAY. THE LOW MOVES THROUGH MANITOBA TUESDAY BRINGING MORE SNOW OR RAIN. SOME AREAS OF MANITOBA MAY GET HEAVY SNOW BUT IT IS TOO EARLY TO BE SPECIFIC. A WINTER STORM WATCH IS AN ALERT OF THE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WINTER WEATHER. PERSONS IN OR NEAR THESE AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR DEVELOPING ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SHOULD LISTEN FOR UPDATED WATCHES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.