Winter-like conditions anticipated for central and southeast Saskatchewan

Residents in some areas of southern and central Saskatchewan will want to make sure their winter tires are still on and their patio furniture is put away as parts of the province brace for winter-like conditions once again.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Friday afternoon that details freezing rain, wind gusts reaching 60 kilometres per hour and the possibility for up to eight inches of snow in parts of central and southeast Saskatchewan on the weekend.

Natalie Hasell, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said despite a lot of the snow melting at first contact, conditions could still be nasty.

“It will fall as rain first and then the snow that falls after that will be melting at first, but with temperatures falling below zero, everything will be frozen,” Hasell said.

She anticipates the system will look very different from Saturday night to Sunday as the wind starts to pick up.

“Throughout the day Sunday, Sunday night, and then into Monday we are looking at the combination of snow and strong winds creating blowing snow and reduced visibility,” she said. “You’re going to have sloppy conditions on the highways and then you’re going to have reduced visibility making road conditions even harder to navigate.

“It doesn’t get much better until the end of the week.”

Hasell said with rough conditions anticipated, people should be ready for the less-than-ideal road conditions they might come across.

“If you absolutely have to go, make sure you have an emergency kit, make sure people know where you are going and really plan ahead for the conditions,” Hasell said. “Make sure you have the tools that you need to keep yourself comfortable or get yourself out of a jam.”

Hasell said it’s not clear yet what regions in the province will face the most severe conditions of the weather system, but it will be important to check weather updates often to see how the system changes.

More details on the weather system can be found on the Environment Canada alerts page.