Winds to push out fog; polar vortex bringing cold temperatures

Many Saskatchewan drivers woke up Monday to vehicles encased in ice after freezing rain fell overnight in many parts of the province.

By mid-morning fog descended on large areas across the southern half of the province.

“We ended up issuing warnings as far down as Regina, although not too much fell in the Regina area,” Environment Canada meteorologist Mark Melsness said.

While the provincial capital was largely spared, Saskatoon caught enough rain to make for some tough scraping and slippery sidewalks for drivers ahead of the early morning commute.

“Probably only around a millimetre or two of accumulations, but certainly enough to ice things up,” Melsness said.

No more freezing rain was expected in either city with temperatures expected to cool off through the week, including overnight lows in the – 20 C range starting on Tuesday.

Along with icy conditions, Melsness advised drivers they could be facing fog.

The area around Kindersley remained under a fog advisory early Monday morning. However,  patches of fog were expected to occur in areas from the Battlefords right down to Moose Jaw and Regina.

Conditions were particularly bad for visibility and ice in the Davidson area.

Drivers were advised to check highway conditions before heading out and to slow down in areas with reduced visibility.

Expect winds, cold temperatures throughout week: Environment Canada

By early Monday afternoon, the fog in southern Saskatchewan was starting to dissipate.

Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said it was due to a developing weather system with winds pushing the fog east.

“The winds associated with that will generate enough mixing of that, and off goes the fog,” Lang said.

The remaining fog patches in southern Saskatchewan should be gone by 5 p.m., she added.

But Lang cautioned that deep, cold temperatures will be coming in behind the weather system, partially caused by the polar vortex.

“We’re going to see the temperatures really start to nosedive. Towards the weekend, it’s going to be particularly cold. It looks like Saturday morning will probably the coldest night, before it starts to warm up again,” with the low foretasted to be -30 C, she said.

The weather agency isn’t expecting strong wind gusts with the cold temperatures, but still warned that even light winds can produce dangerous windchills.

The best deterrent is to prepare and bundle up, Lang said.

—With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker