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A powerful spring storm is bringing high winds, heavy rain and even the chance of snow to parts of Saskatchewan on Thursday, with Environment Canada warning people to secure loose items and prepare for tricky travel conditions.
Chris Stammers, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said people in the Regina area can expect the strongest winds from around noon into the early evening on Thursday.
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“We’ll see sustained winds around 70 kilometres an hour, with gusts over 90 to 100 kilometres an hour,” Stammers said.
He said winds that strong can cause damage.
“Any time you get winds over 90 kilometres an hour, you’re starting to see some impacts and damage to infrastructure,” he said.
“So (I’d) certainly advise folks to take appropriate precautions ahead of this system.”
The strongest winds are expected in southwestern Saskatchewan, including the Swift Current area and down toward the U.S. border, where gusts could reach 110 km/h.
Stammers said the wind is expected to build throughout the day as a significant low-pressure system intensifies over the western part of the province.
For Regina, the wind is expected to remain strong overnight before easing slightly on Friday. Stammers said Friday will still be windy, but not as severe as Thursday.
“Today’s the big day for the winds, for sure,” he said.
Environment Canada also warned that loose objects could become dangerous in the high winds.
“Any loose objects, folks are going to want to kind of secure down today, as it’ll be easy to kind of get them tossed by the wind,” Stammers said. “Any yard furniture or, you know, trampolines, things like that, folks are going to want to secure, put away for the day.”
Travel could also be difficult, he said, especially for semis and taller vehicles. Stammers said the wind will be coming from the west, meaning vehicles on north-south routes could be hit harder by crosswinds.
“If you’re travelling south to north or north to south across the province today, you’ll probably see some bigger impact,” he said.
Stammers said travel conditions south of Regina, including towards Estevan, could be poor on Thursday afternoon.
Saskatoon is not expected to see the worst of the wind, but Stammers said the city will still get some rain. Winds were expected to gust at 50 to 60 km/h in the evening before calming down again on Friday morning.
Rain is expected to hit the Shaunavon area, as well as north through Kindersley, the Battlefords and towards Saskatoon, with 20-30 mm possible in some areas. A rainfall warning is also in effect for parts of central Saskatchewan, including around Meadow Lake, where flooding remains a concern.
By Friday, colder air is expected to wrap into the storm, bringing wet snow to parts of western Saskatchewan.
“Not looking at any major accumulations, maybe just a centimetre or two,” Stameers said. “But yeah, there will certainly be some wet snow mixed in tomorrow across western Saskatchewan.”
The latest updates on the weather alerts can be found on Environment Canada’s website.
–with files from 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink
