Up to 50 cm of snow to fall in southeast Saskatchewan

For the second straight week, the southeast part of the province is going to see a major snowstorm.

Despite the calendar winding down to the end of April, Environment Canada is calling for up to 50 centimetres of snow, or roughly two feet worth of the white powder.

David Baggaley is with Environment Canada and says the timing is quite unfortunate given how certain parts in the region got hit with last week’s storm.

“The real story today is the extreme southeast corner of Saskatchewan,” Baggaley said.

“We still have a winter storm warning out and what we have at the moment is an area of rain and snow just south of the international border (that’s) turning into some very heavy snow in the afternoon.”

Baggaley said most areas will see around 25 centimetres but warns that some places will see double the amount.

Areas like Estevan, Moosomin and Carlyle are all currently under a winter storm warning.

Baggaley said that it will feel like a workout to remove snow from sidewalks and driveways.

“It’s heavy wet snow, so shovelling it won’t be any fun at all and (there) will be even stronger winds as well. It will be blowing around and between the falling snow and the blowing snow, there’s going to be some very poor visibility at times.”

Highway driving is something Baggaley advises against, especially as conditions are expected to get worse as the day goes on.

Weyburn mayor Marcel Roy said his city is ready to deal with the storm, no matter how bad it is.

“Our administration has set up a very good snow clearing plan, so main arteries are always kept clear, and then the secondary residential streets are cleared once everything’s caught up with … Then we’ve always got our emergency plan with fire and police. They’re always ready to go and deal with everything that comes along,” he explained.

One concern of his is how it will affect farmers in the area.

“It is just crazy. And you look at the forecast and it’s not really warming up until about mid-May. I can’t remember being on the farm (as a kid), maybe mid-May would be the latest that we would get going. Boy, we’re really pushing it to the end of May for farmers getting on their fields … I can’t remember it being this late a spring, ever,” he recalled.

The late spring is also pushing back construction and maintenance.

“They had all the blades in all the graders set for summertime work, and they changed that all back,” Roy said.

More to come.