'Big storm system' in Prairies heading to Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada

A Colorado low storm system is bringing "heavy" snow to portions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba on Thursday.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for areas close to Yellowgrass Lang and Lewvan, Sask., and portions south of Winnipeg.

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Manitoba's capital city and the surrounding area are under a snowfall warning as of Thursday morning. Accumulation totals could be between 10 to 15 centimetres, the Environment Canada warning reads.

Higher snow amounts are expected in western Manitoba near the Riding Mountains, the weather agency says.

The snow is expected to taper off Thursday evening into Friday before moving into northwest Ontario, CTV Your Morning's meteorologist Kelsey McEwen said.

Ahead of the Colorado low system, the region around Armstrong, Auden and Wabakimi Park, Ont., are under a special weather statement due to a "brief period" of freezing rain.

Parts of northern Ontario experienced a warm-up on Wednesday, enough to break heat records in Armstrong, Atikokan, Greenstone, Lansdowne House, Nipigon, Upsala and Marathon, a weather alert from Environment Canada shows.

It was warm enough in Nipigon, a town northeast of Thunder Bay, to break a record previously set in 1925. On Feb. 7, the the weather agency recorded a daily temperature high of 6.2 C, breaking the 99-year-old record for that day of 5.6 C.

Environment Canada expects precipitation to fall early Thursday morning.

McEwen said temperatures are increasing in southern Ontario and Quebec, bringing a rise in humidity as well.

The temperature change prompted Environment Canada to issue fog advisories to the Greater Toronto Area, Barrie and St. Catharines, Ont.

"Black ice may form in areas where temperatures are below freezing due to freezing fog," the advisory reads.

The "patchy dense fog" is expected to lift by Thursday morning.

McEwen said the Colorado low system is expected to move across Ontario and Quebec, moving into Atlantic Canada over the weekend.

Out west, a large portion of Alberta residents could be waking up to dense fog causing near-zero visibility, an Environment Canada fog advisory reads.

Some areas around Calgary and Edmonton could also experience freezing drizzle making surfaces slippery.

The bad weather is expected to lift throughout the day, the advisory from Environment Canada reads.