Rain, snow or a combination of the two is in the forecast for areas of Manitoba.

Usually by now many areas would already have seen their first snow fall. According to the Weather Network, we are in the midst of a rapidly strengthening El Niño.

Some meteorologists saying it could be one of the strongest on record.

G3 Canada’s weather and crop specialist Bruce Burnett says El Niño is expected to mean a milder winter for much of the southern prairies.

"We'll likely to start next spring with not an awful lot of snow cover, having experienced some warmer temperatures this winter," Burnett said.

Stats show the two strongest two El Niño events on record prior to this year were in 1982-83 and 1997-98.