Drivers stranded on roadsides and in halls overnight as storm pummels Sask.

Sunday's snowstorm left people stranded in community halls and on roadsides overnight as thick slushy snow turned to ice on highways across southern Saskatchewan.

Roy Dupuis was driving from British Columbia back to Quebec in his Hyundai on Sunday and had no idea he was about to encounter Saskatchewan's first winter storm of the year.

Dupuis said the roads were covered in ice and so slick he could only drive 20 km/h. With semi trucks passing his small car, he decided it was too dangerous to continue.

His car doesn't have four wheel drive or winter tires, so Dupuis pulled off Highway 1 onto a side road west of Swift Current. 

"It was pretty scary with no one around," Dupuis said.

"My cell service didn't work. At some point it was cold and I had to wake up every two hours to turn the car on and I was worried it would keep snowing."

Dupuis watched semis drive by and worried they might slide off the treacherous road and hit his car, prompting him to move it back at one point.

"It was really dangerous on the highway. I didn't want anybody to drift in to me."

Dupuis slept intermittently, waking when the car's temperature dropped. He said he would start the car briefly to warm it up, but kept it off much of the night to preserve his half tank of fuel.

His only food was one bag of chips.

Environment and Climate Change Canada received reports of as much as 40 cm of snowfall in Moose Jaw, which was at the epicentre of road closures and power outages.

Much of Highway 1 from Swift Current to Regina remained closed Monday, with some sections opening in the afternoon.

The roads improved slightly Monday and by early afternoon Dupuis made it to Swift Current, where he planned to rent a hotel room and rest.

Krista Erickson checked the Highway Hotline before she left Moose Jaw with friends Sunday at about 10 a.m. CST, but it only listed "winter driving conditions" on that stretch of road, which didn't seem too serious, she said.