Snowfall warnings blanket central Sask.

Environment Canada has issued snowfall warnings across central Saskatchewan as a storm system moves through over the weekend.

Snow is expected to start falling Saturday morning and continue into Sunday.

“With the arctic air slumping from the south, it’s a prime set up for some steady heavy snowfall,” meteorologist Jason Knight said Saturday morning.

He expects up to 20 centimetres, or around eight inches, of snow to fall during the storm.

“This is somewhere closer to a Colorado low type set-up, a little more than a clipper so it’s not something we see quite so frequently but it’s not too terribly uncommon for this time of year,” Knight explained.

Nicole Martin, a Co-op employee in Rosthern, noticed the snowfall Saturday morning. She recalled it being pretty light at the time.

But later that afternoon, she said more started falling.

“We have very low visibility. We’re about quarter-of-a-mile from the main highway and we can’t see across the highway,” Martin said.

She was expecting nasty weather to last a while.

“We’re thinking the next 24 hours are going to be pretty bad just because tomorrow is supposed to be really cold and we’re not sure if the snow’s supposed to continue. Next 24 hours I think we’re just expecting, crap.”

Based on his models at the time, Knight expected the heaviest snowfall will be north of Saskatoon from Lloydminster to the Manitoba border.

The storm system will bring strong gusting wind in some areas which means spots of poor visibility, according to Knight.

Areas south of the snowfall warnings could experience freezing rain.