The Prairies are getting an early taste of winter. Parts of southeastern Saskatchewan are getting hit with close to 20 centimeters of snow. In Southern Manitoba accumulations of between 10 and 20 centimeters are expected.

The snow started falling Wednesday around noon in parts of Manitoba. It caught many motorists off guard, and some cars slid off roads and into ditches. The temperature hovered around zero as the flakes fell in Winnipeg, and most of the snow melted as it hit the ground.

Heavy snowfall warnings, blizzard warnings, and winter storm warnings were issued for different parts of Manitoba.

The storm system is being blamed on a huge Colorado low that is moving slowly across the southern Prairies. Regina escaped the storm's blast.

"I just talked to a few friends at the Winnipeg Control Tower," says CTV Winnipeg weather forecaster John Sauder. "The peak gust in the last several hours has been 85 kilometres per hour. Consistently, they're getting 60 to 80 kilometre per hour winds at the control tower."

This is just the kind of storm some people were worried about. Strong winds are making already high water levels on Lake Winnipeg even higher, and a high water warning is in effect for the lake. The province says there's some risk of flooding, and it's now working to close all dikes.

Some homeowners close to shore are boarding their windows to protect against the waves.

Heavy snow has forced the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to close a number of highways in Southern Manitoba.

Flurries are expected to continue through Thursday morning in Winnipeg. It will warm up to a high of four degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

Things will improve for the weekend, when double-digit temperatures are expected. "It's going to be good," says CTV Winnipeg weather specialist Sylvia Kuzyk.

The average daily maximum temperature in Winnipeg for October is 11 degrees Celsius. Average rainfall is 31 mm, and average snowfall is five centimeters. The first snowfall greater than 2 cm usually hits in early November.

Most of southern Manitoba gets between 110 and 140 cm of snow annually, but the heaviest snowfalls happen in the northeast, which averages 160 cm per year.

Environment Canada predicts most of the country will be able to go easy on the snow shovel this year. It believes a trend toward milder winters for both east and west will continue this year.

Earlier this week, Environment Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips said that from British Columbia to Thunder Bay, Ontario, temperatures will be warmer and there will be less snow than last year.

The Maritimes, Atlantic Canada and the Gaspe region of Quebec are also expected to get off easy.

Most of Ontario and Quebec are expected to have temperatures closer to normal for winter, but because some regions got a lot of snow last year, less precipitation is predicted.