Blizzard expected to hit Regina, parts of southeastern Sask. on Friday evening

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued blizzard warnings Friday morning for Regina and parts of southeastern Saskatchewan, replacing the snowfall warnings that were previously in effect.

ECCC meteorologist Shannon Moodie said the snowfall warnings were replaced because the weather office is expecting blizzard conditions to develop in the Regina and Estevan areas Friday evening.

“We’re expecting some gusty winds. We’re looking at 50 (kilometre-per-hour winds) gusting to 70 (km/h) to develop in Regina … Combined with that falling snow, we will likely see some blizzard conditions,” Moodie said.

The meteorologist said the system that was being tracked on Thursday didn’t change its path.

“It just looks like the snow is going to be heavy with those gusty winds,” she added.

Unlike what was previously known on Thursday, Moodie said snow will certainly fall in Regina on Friday.

“It’s pretty variable. For Regina itself, about 10 to 15 centimetres (of snow will fall on Friday) and then an additional few centimetres on Saturday,” Moodie added. “For Estevan and further south, there’ll be more snow because the system is tracking (towards) the U.S., so there could be up to 25 centimetres of snow in Estevan.”

However, she said Saskatoon shouldn’t be impacted by the system.

“They’ll just get a couple of centimetres of snow in Saskatoon … It’s really just impacting the southern regions (of) Saskatchewan,” Moodie added.

According to Moodie, the warnings are not expected to be expanded northward.

“It’s been pretty consistent with the track of the system, so where they are, they will stay,” Moodie said. “We’re definitely not recommending travel, so we’ve had these warnings out in advance.”

More information is available on the ECCC alerts page.

Just after 12:30 p.m., the Highway Hotline reported travel wasn’t recommended on some roads in the province’s southwest, including highways 13, 18 and 21 south of Maple Creek.