Snow to make for tricky travel on Sask. roads this weekend

Snow might intervene in weekend travel plans across parts of southern and central Saskatchewan.

Up to 15 cm of snow is expected in the southwest corner of the province throughout Friday, while Saskatoon is due for up to 10cm.

Moving in overnight on Thursday, the storm system is expected to bring a mixture of heavy winds and snow.

Complicating travel plans is the dip in temperatures following the storm, making ice out of the slushy snowfall.

“We’re going to see the winds start to pick up really strongly overnight,” said Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.

“It’s that combination of those strong winds and the snow coming that’s really going to make a mess of travelling.”

The southwest corner is expected to get a mixture of wet snow, rain and possibly freezing rain as part of the storm.

The news isn’t all dreary for the weekend. Lang said the storm is moving quickly and should make its way to Manitoba by Friday evening.

Lang advised people to constantly check the Highway Hotline on Friday and Saturday before beginning a road trip.

“It’s just going to be a real mess in the morning,” she said. “(Friday) is just going to be a difficult travel day. If people are going to reschedule their travelling, I think that’s a good idea — or maybe cancel it all together.”

More to come

Lang said that more snow could be on its way throughout the rest of the month and into April.

“We’ve still got a lot of spring to winter conditions ahead of us,” she said. “We are forecasting a below normal spring, temperature wise and above normal with respect to precipitation.”

The long road to some favourable spring weather should last until the end of April for most of the province.

“Anything could happen, especially into the end of April — and we know that living in Saskatchewan,” Lang said.