Heavy snow, freezing rain hit southern Saskatchewan

A brief pause in winter storms ended Tuesday.

Environment Canada issued freezing rain warnings for much of the southeastern part of the province, while a significant snowstorm hit Regina.

Late Tuesday morning, the freezing rain warnings were replaced by snowfall warnings that said 10 centimetres could fall in some areas. Early in the afternoon, all of the warnings were removed.

According to the Highway Hotline, travel wasn’t recommended on the Regina Bypass from the intersection with Highway 11 in the north around the city, and on the Trans-Canada Highway east to Balgonie. That advisory was removed just after noon.

The Highway Hotline said visibility was reduced on a number of highways around Regina and to the west of Saskatoon.

Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said that depending on the temperature of the location, the precipitation could vary.

“It’s kind of a mixed bag,” Lang said. “Temperatures are so close to that freezing mark that half a degree either way will change the precipitation from rain or snow to freezing rain. It’s really dicey in there.”

Environment Canada’s forecast shows Regina could be hit with five centimetres of snow.

Lang said the storm should stick to the southeast portion of the province before moving northwest into Manitoba.

The freezing rain should end by noon on Tuesday.

The weather system is a part of a warm front that formed in Montana and southern Alberta.

“The bulk of that precipitation is forming because there are slightly cooler temperatures there,” said Lang.

Early on Tuesday morning, Dale Finch faced some slippery conditions on his way to work and said the roads were pretty bad.

Finch travelled east from Bengough to Weyburn on Highway 13.

“It goes from icy slippery sections, but (there are) no clear sections anymore,” he said.

Finch said it started as rain before turning into snow for most of the drive.

A storm dumped a significant amount of snow on Regina on Nov. 7, 2023. (980 CJME file photo)