Winnipeg snow-clearing crews are working around the clock to clean streets after an offshoot of a winter storm system that caused chaos in the U.S. Midwest dumped up to 30 centimetres of snow in parts of the city.

The system, which originated in Oklahoma, dumped up to 35 centimetres in the Manitoba's southeast region Saturday night and early Sunday morning and ground travel to a halt as residents scrambled to dig out their cars. One man was seen shoveling out his car using a painting.

A man blows snow in Winnipeg's suburb of River Heights on Sunday. Plowing crews in Winnipeg are going full tilt after a winter storm dumped up to 30 centimetres of snow on southern Manitoba.
(John Woods/Canadian Press)

The storm closed the Trans-Canada Highway for several hours Sunday east of Winnipeg to the Ontario border due to poor visibility and bad road conditions.

David Bagley, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, told the CBC Sunday the amount of snow even caught him off guard.

"We were expecting heavy snow, [but] we were only expecting 10 to 15 centimetres," Bagley said. "Of course the amounts were almost double that, so again, the intensity was more than we were expecting."

Winnipeg streets are attacked in force.
(CBC)

Crews at the Winnipeg airport managed to keep up with the heavy snowfall, and all runways remained open, said Christine Alongi, a spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Airports Authority. Ms. Alongi said she was snowed-in, as were many of her neighbours.

Dozens of church services were cancelled and the Winnipeg Meals on Wheels halted meal deliveries for local seniors because many streets were impassable.

Some rural roads still not clear: authorities

Manitoba's Transportation Department issued an advisory Sunday that several rural highways were in poor driving condition and some Winnipeg emergency crews pleaded with motorists to stay off city streets so fire trucks and ambulances could get through, if needed.

Bagley said the Beausejour area, northeast of Winnipeg, was the hardest hit.

The total cost of the clean-up operation is estimated at between $2 million and $3 million.

With files from the Canadian Press