People planning to travel south this weekend should be aware that areas south of the U.S.A. border are expecting severe winter weather.

Carl Jones is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He says the system will affect the northern plains of the U.S.A., including most of North Dakota and northern Minnesota.

"We're expecting anywhere between eight upwards of maybe even 18 inches (46 centimetres) of snow in the Red River Valley. As far as travelling down I-29, pretty much at the border of the United States and Canada is kind of where the most uncertainty lies."

He says in that area one place might receive just an inch or two of snow, and then just a few miles further south could see up to 10 inches of snow.

Jones says that the system will arrive in North Dakota Friday, and will begin to especially impact the area Saturday.

Travel is expected to be severely impacted, both on roads and in the air, Jones says.