A beautiful fall in southern Manitoba has come to a swift end, going from blistering temperatures last weekend to winter-like conditions today.
An intense low pressure system from the Dakotas and Minnesota is responsible for the sudden change in weather.
Precipitation colliding with colder air from the north is turning to wet snow.
The strongest part of the system hit southeast Manitoba, where snowfalls were expected to be 10 to 20 centimetres.
Winds and snow were predicted to taper off in the evening with a few lingering flurries persisting into Friday.
The cool air will knock the temperatures way below normal. The daytime highs will struggle to about 2 C or 4 C for the next two days.
Normals high for this time of year is about 14 C.
Last weekend, temperatures soared to near 30 C.
The wet weather comes as a big relief to firefighters in southern Manitoba, who have been battling grass fires since Sunday.
Snow also hit the Vita area, which was hardest hit by fires that destroyed four families' homes.
The fires also destroyed a nearby bridge on Highway 201 that led to two vehicles crashing through the burnt-out span on Tuesday.
The land in the area looked post-apocalyptic where the fires had raced through. It was black, smoking and covered in ashes.
Premier Greg Selinger toured the area and saw the fire-damaged properties on Wednesday afternoon, just as the temperatures started to cool down, the winds subsided, and the rains began.
Jim Swidersky, the reeve of the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn, where Vita is located, said five centimeters of snow has already fallen.
"The ground is white. It's a huge relief for me looking at the danger of the wildfires, the rest for the firefighters, the anxiety for the residents,” he said.
"Snow's something we don't [usually] want this time of the year but we'll take any kind of precipitation right now. The rain yesterday started, it was a good rain yesterday, and it rained through the night, now changed over to snow."
As a result, firefighting efforts in the area have been suspended and the fires appear to be out, Swidersky said.
Now he says people are working on fundraising efforts for those who have lost their homes.