Some Manitobans still trapped at home by snow as many return to normal after spring storm

The calm after southern Manitoba's spring snowstorm is settling in across parts of the province, but not everyone is back to normal quite yet.

In Onanole, a small community about 220 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg near Riding Mountain National Park, some residents are still digging themselves out — and waiting for snowplows to clear the way so they can leave their homes.

That includes Sheldon Willy, who said the sudden return of winter surprised him, but only a bit.

"We've had a little bit of a taste of weird weather here before," he said, referring to the 2019 Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm that knocked out power and brought much of the province to a standstill.

Dean Gunnarson, a professional escape artist who lives in the area, said even he would have a hard time finding his way out of the thick layer of snow that covered roads and buried his truck.

"It'll be, I don't know, a few days before that comes out," he said, looking back at the heap of snow where his vehicle was once visible.

"It's challenging, but this is what being Canadian is all about."

Environment Canada says unofficial total snowfall amounts show a huge range across the province. Woodlands, just northwest of Winnipeg, only got an estimated 13 centimetres of snow, while the city of Winnipeg got somewhere between 25 and 35.

Onanole was hit by far the hardest, with an estimated 82 centimetres covering that part of the province.

But Willy said he's not too worried, and expects to be out and about again in a day or two.

"Rural Manitoba is pretty good at digging themselves out of these snowstorms," he said.

They're not the only ones who will take a few more days to get back to normal. 

Canada Post is still suspending deliveries in southern Manitoba until it's safe, spokesperson Phil Legault said in an email Friday.

That means mail delivery isn't expected to return until Tuesday after a service alert was issued Wednesday, with contingency planning happening now to make sure deliveries are current as soon as possible next week, Legault said.