Winter weather wallops southern Saskatchewan

March may have entered Saskatchewan like a lamb, but the lion is back with a vengeance.

A winter storm hit southern Saskatchewan overnight, with winds up to 70 kilometres per hour, blowing snow and large drifts building up. Blizzard and snowfall warnings remained in place Saturday for some areas of southern Saskatchewan, but were lifted as the day wore on.

Environment Canada’s Shannon Moodie said a large weather system south of the border pushed some pretty heavy snowfall into Saskatchewan, with anywhere from 10 to 25 centimetres of snow expected in some areas by the end of the day.

“The snow is starting to taper off in southwestern Saskatchewan and that will gradually taper off from west to east throughout the day (Saturday),” she said.

Overnight, blizzard conditions developed in the Kindersley, Regina, Fort Qu’Appelle, Estevan and Carlyle areas. While the weather improved in the Kindersley area Saturday morning, the storm was still moving through Regina and eastern Saskatchewan.

The storm closed a number of roads, including the Regina Bypass, stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway and highways throughout the southeast. Those highways opened as the day progressed.

As of Saturday evening, travel still wasn’t recommended on a number of highways in the southern half of the province and visibility was a concern on a number of roads.