Weather wreaking havoc on roads; wind warnings in place across Saskatchewan

Some of Saskatchewan’s highways and byways were treacherous Wednesday due to a storm bringing freezing rain and high winds to the province.

Brad Fast was driving on Highway 4 north of The Battlefords.

(Brad Fast/Submitted)

“It’s bad,” he said. “The wind actually blew a semi right off the highway into the westbound ditch …

“You could play the (NHL’s) Winter Classic out here.”

The wind was making things particularly difficult, especially when combined with freezing rain.

“I’m going to Meadow Lake, but that’s not happening today,” said a trucker named Rob. “The highway is just pure, solid ice right now.”

Fast said highways weren’t the only issue.

“I’ve never actually seen grid roads like this before and I’ve lived on the grids my whole life,” he said. “Even the grid roads are basically undriveable right now.”

At around 10:30 a.m., the Highway Hotline said highways in the St. Walburg area had been closed due to icy conditions.

Those included Highway 3 west to the Alberta border, Highway 26 north to Loon Lake and south towards the intersection with Highway 4, Highway 21 south to the intersection of Highway 303, and Highway 303 through Turtleford and east to Glaslyn.

Other “travel not recommended” advisories were in place for the Wakaw, Lanigan, Rosthern, Humboldt, North Battleford, Meadow Lake, Spiritwood, Big River, Shellbrook and Prince Albert areas due to ice-covered highways.

Just before 4 p.m., similar advisories were issued for the Rosetown, Kyle, Kerrobert and Kamsack regions due to icy or slippery sections, blowing snow and slush.

The list of areas in which travel isn’t recommended was expanded later to include Unity, Swift Current, Saskatchewan Landing, Cabri, Outlook and Lucky Lake.

Cpl. Rob King of the Saskatchewan RCMP said the Mounties had received reports of at least 40 vehicles in ditches around the province — and he expected those numbers to increase if people keep hitting the roads.

“If you don’t absolutely have to go somewhere, it’s definitely advisable to wait until this weather system passes,” King said.

Robert Brown drives a semi for a living. Knowing what was coming, he stayed at a Saskatoon truck stop overnight — but he was hitting the road Wednesday as soon as he could.

“You keep going as long as your truck stays on the road,” he said. “If you feel your truck is sliding off the road, well, then you’d pull over. I’ve never had that. I’ve seen it, but I’ve never had that.”

For many areas of the province, the winter storm watches and warnings that had been issued by Environment Canada on Tuesday were lifted Wednesday morning.

Some areas could still experience freezing rain, heavy snow and blowing snow, including those around Hudson Bay, La Ronge, Meadow Lake, Melfort, Pelican Narrows, Prince Albert, and the Battlefords.

However, all other regions to the south are under a wind warning, including Regina and Saskatoon.

Snow is a possibility. If it falls, it could result in poor visibility.

“The high winds are a certainty across the province. We’re looking at wind gusts up to 110 kilometres an hour developing this afternoon in the southwest and expanding eastward throughout the day,” Environment Canada meteorologist Jason Knight said Wednesday morning.

Those wind speeds could pose a risk to people and property.

“We’re going to be worried about taking shingles off, loose objects blowing about. Drivers on the road, trucks could be blown over and of course power lines could be affected with all of this too,” Knight said.

Knight expects a few hours of “very nasty conditions” but “easing rapidly overnight.”

“By Thursday, we’ll still be looking at blustery conditions and light snow ongoing,” he said.

Later Wednesday afternoon, Environment Canada also issued snow squall warnings for areas of the province.

“Brief, intense snowfall is expected to develop,” the advisoty said. “Under the snow squall, visibilities will be significantly reduced due to the heavy snow.”

The snow and the wind could create near-zero visibilities in some areas of southern Saskatchewan tonight.

SaskPower ready for storm

SaskPower is keeping an eye on the weather system.

Spokesperson Scott McGregor said the utility provider is not expecting big blackouts but is prepared for them.

“We have power line technicians on standby should the need arise for repairs to downed power lines or damaged infrastructure,” McGregor said.

Because severe weather like strong winds are common in Saskatchewan, SaskPower’s infrastructure has been built to handle it, he said.

“All of our structures do follow certain standards in terms of engineering and their strengths and their durability,” McGregor said. “Our power lines and our infrastructure, they’ll be fine.”

If people discover a downed power line, his advice is to stay back at least 10 metres and call SaskPower.

Crews should arrive as soon as they can but the estimated time of restoration will depend on the extent of the damage and the weather. If technicians must be elevated above ground, they will wait until the winds die down.

“That could lead to a slightly longer outage than otherwise if it was a nice beautiful sunny day,” McGregor said. “But it is all because of safety. We have to make sure that as much as our customers are safe, our employees are safe as well.”

McGregor also pointed to more resources on SaskPower’s website. People can find tips on waiting out an unplanned outage. The latest information on blackouts will be posted to its social media channels.