‘Potent’ storm system begins to clear parts of Sask. and will exit the province by morning: Environment Canada

Blizzard conditions in Saskatoon will ease throughout the evening Wednesday, but the bad weather in Regina and southeastern Saskatchewan will last well into the night, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). 

“Some of the worst conditions are yet to come,” said Danielle Desjardins, a warning preparedness meteorologist with ECCC. 

She said the Alberta clipper storm system will exit the southeast corner of the province Thursday morning, but conditions in the southeast part of the province will deteriorate throughout Wednesday evening. 

“It’s one quiet day before the next system tracks across the Prairies,” Desjardins said. 

Saskatchewan will be hit by another storm on Friday, but this one is expected to be more mild, Desjardins said. 

Despite that, Friday morning could also see near-zero visibility in some parts of the southeast corner of the province on Friday, she said. 

Wednesday’s storm hit the parts of the province closest to the U.S. border the hardest, including Moose Jaw and Regina, which were both hit with freezing rain, Desjardins said. 

The area between the Yellowhead and TransCanada highways saw the most snowfall, but Saskatoon had the worst visibility conditions. 

The storm system made for treacherous driving conditions throughout the province, with the RCMP saying they responded to dozens of “weather-related calls” for collisions and vehicles in ditches on Wednesday. 

In Swift Current, an officer reported that the roads were so slippery it was hard to even stand on them, let alone drive, RCMP spokesperson Keely Grasser said at a late afternoon news conference. 

“If you don’t need to be on the roads tonight, don’t be,” Gresser said. 

According to preliminary numbers from the RCMP, as of 2 p.m. CST police had responded to roughly 29 weather calls outside the major cities, include collisions, vehicles in ditches and road hazards. Gresser said many involved semi-trailers or inclines. 

“If you happen to have a weather bingo card, you're probably going to be able to fill that weather bingo card today because we've got a mixed bag,” said highways ministry spokesman David Horth.

“We've got rain, we've got snow, we've got wind, we've got ice. It's a good day to maybe rethink travel plans if you possibly can.”