The Saskatoon based Meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada says the hardest hit in Saskatchewan with this storm is the west central part of the province through the City of Saskatoon and areas towards North Battleford. Terri Lang says a few more centimetres are expected Sunday and they estimated between 29 and 37 centimetres of snow had fallen by mid-afternoon Sunday in Saskatoon. This is on top of the 18 centimetres that fell last Monday in Saskatoon. Other snowfall amounts that have been reported include 33 centimetres in Wilke and 35 centimetres in Biggar as well as 10 to 15 centimetres in Regina.
Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says if you don’t have a four-wheel drive vehicle, he urges residents to stay home if they can. Mayor Clark points out that if you get stuck then it further hampers snow ploughs. In Saskatoon Sunday many cars were left abandoned in the snow forcing Saskatoon Transit buses, in some instances, to try and navigate around them.
The Director of Saskatoon Roadways Goran Saric says priority streets will be graded by Thursday morning. At that point all local streets will be graded. After those are finished the city will move into industrial areas. Snow will be pushed to the side and will remain there until a decision is made regarding city wide snow removal. Snow will continue into Sunday evening and the City of Saskatoon says their priority is maintaining access to all emergency facilities as well as Circle Drive and other main arterials.
Pamela Goulden-Mcleod, Director of Emergency Management Organization, says their emergency operations centre has been activated to Level 2. As well, the Extreme Cold Weather Emergency Plan is activated in coordination with thirty community partners. All Saskatoon Public Libraries are closed and will reopen at noon Monday. The Cosmo Civic Centre, The Shaw Centre, the Field House, Lakewood Civic Centre and Lawson Civic Centre are all closed. Some transit services are being cancelled, for instance Access Transit. Buses were getting stuck and are also having to navigate some streets where other vehicles became stuck and were abandoned in the snow.
Monday is a professional development day for elementary school teachers so elementary students in Saskatoon were already not going to be in class. And now Saskatoon Public Schools, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, and Prairie Spirit School Division have cancelled classes Monday. In person classes are cancelled at the University of Saskatchewan. Due to the winter storm, in-person classes, labs and student services at Saskatchewan Polytechnic Saskatoon campuses are cancelled on Monday. Sask Polytech asks that students avoid going to Saskatoon campus locations. All online classes will continue as scheduled. At this time, in-person classes will continue at Sask Polytech campuses in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert and Regina on Monday.
To check the status of Saskatchewan highways go to the Highway Hotline. Flights to and from Saskatoon have also been impacted. You can check here for arrivals and departures.
