Spring officially arrived at 6:02 a.m. CT on Wednesday, but there was nothing to show for it in Manitoba, which remains buried in all things winter.

The towering snowbanks in Winnipeg will take awhile to melt away. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

The only things springing up were mitten-covered hands gesturing in frustration to the exhaust-fogged sky.

The temperature in Winnipeg at 9 a.m. was –23 C, and with a wind chill that made it feel more like –35 C.

The mercury peaked at –11 C in the afternoon, but with the wind it still felt like –20 C. The overnight low is expected to be a bone-rattling –24 C.

"Those are temperatures that we would normally see in the middle of January, in the dead of winter," said Maki.

The normal temperatures for this time of year are a daytime high of 1 C and overnight low of –9 C.

The days should start to warm up to more spring-like temperatures by early next week, with highs of 0 C or slightly above.

Digging out from latest snowstorm

Meanwhile, many across southern Manitoba are still digging out from Monday's snowstorm.

The abundance of snow has caused problems for many Manitobans, including Kayla Matyas of Elie, Man., whose two horses escaped briefly from her pasture on Tuesday thanks to high snowbanks.

Icicles hang from the awnings in front of Ormistons Florist on Corydon Avenue as spring struggles to make its presence felt. (Darren Bernhardt/CBC)

Matyas says she has an electric fence surrounding her property, but the snow drifts have become taller than the fence.

The horses stepped on the snowbank, walked over the fence and onto the road, she said.

"Both of them decided they were going to escape and go for a little wander around the area," Matyas said with a laugh.

"It's been a lot of stress, and we just can't wait until the snow's gone, finally, and it does warm up."

Winnipeg has received about 160 centimetres of snow this winter, which is about 50 cm more than average. That has prompted some to worry where all the snow will go when temperatures do rise this spring.

"All of a sudden, next week or two weeks from now, go to plus-20. All of this has to go somewhere," said real estate agent Pierre Prest.

Prest said he recently paid to have a lot of snow hauled away from the sides of his home.

Since the ground alongside homes does not freeze, it's the first place where melted snow will go, he said.