A 54-year-old woman from Winnipeg died after a two vehicle crash just outside the city on Tuesday.

It happened just after 7:30 a.m. on the north Perimeter Highway near Lagimodiere Boulevard.

The woman was westbound on the Perimeter when she lost control of her car and went into the path of an eastbound pickup truck, according to RCMP.

The driver of the truck, an adult male, was transported to hospital with minor injuries.

Road conditions were reported to be very icy at the time of the collision, RCMP said.

Dangerous drive

A storm system located over extreme Northern Minnesota shouldered its way into southern Manitoba overnight, creating a dangerous morning drive.

Snowy and ice-packed roads, as well as flurries and fog, caused treacherous conditions and visibility problems.

Power outages

The winter storm knocked out power to homes in many communities and cancelled classes in several school divisions.

About 400 homes in Falcon Lake and 200 homes east of Lorette were affected, while outages also hit St. Pierre, St. Anne and parts of Steinbach.

Hydro crews were still working during the early afternoon on restoring power to some areas but advised there would be intermittent outages throughout the day.

In Winnipeg, hydro crews dealt with fires. Whenever there is fog or damp, heavy snow, it enables electricity in the power lines to arc across the insulator and spark a pole-top fire.

One fire was on a pole at Wellington Avenue and Century Street and another was on Wilkes Avenue near Shaftesbury Boulevard.

To replace the poles, hydro will need to cut power to a number of homes, businesses and traffic lights. Police will be on scene directing traffic until power is restored.

Numerous crashes were reported in and around Winnipeg with vehicles sliding into ditches, onto boulevards and into one another.

Shortly after 9 a.m., emergency responders were called to a collision between a school bus and an SUV at the intersection of Meridian Road and Road 76.5 N in the Rural Municipality of Rosser.

The bus, belonging to the Interlake School Division, had no children on board at the time.

The bus driver, a 55-year-old woman from the RM of Rosser, and the 48-year-old woman who was driving the SUV, were both transported to hospital for treatment.

The full extent of their injuries is not known at the present time, RCMP said.

In Winnipeg, emergency crews were called to crashes on Fermor Avenue, Lagimodiere Boulevard, Elizabeth Road, Maginot Street and in several locations around the Perimeter Highway.

There was fog reported from Elie to Portage la Prairie and on Highway 6 from Winnipeg north to Ashern.

A snowfall warning remains in effect for Steinbach, St. Adolphe, Lac du Bonnet and Pine Falls, with amounts of 10 to 15 cm expected by noon.

Tim Blazanovic, spokesperson for Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, said drivers need to slow down.

“It is slippery out there and in some spots almost greasy because of the snowfall,” he said.