Commuters in downtown Regina Monday had to make the abrupt shift back to winter driving mode. Photo Mitchell Blair.
Conditions are going to gradually improve across Saskatchewan on Tuesday, as a nasty spring winter storm has passed into Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
While it was here though, we saw rain, snow and strong winds, with many communities recording gusts over 100 kilometres per hour.
Environment Canada’s Mike Russo said the strongest winds were in the south.
“As far as the wind gusts go Swift Current saw the strongest wind gust at 120 km/h, the automatic station there recorded that,” Russo said. “Down towards Mankota and eventually Estevan and Val Marie, all those locations saw gusts around or over 100 km/h as well,” Russo added.
Regina’s strongest gust was 92 km/h recorded at the airport Monday night. Moose Jaw felt a gust of 90 km/h.
Not your typical late March Monday!#skstorm pic.twitter.com/9ul7poNiMj
— Mitchell Blair (@mblairYQR) March 30, 2021
Russo said while they don’t have any official totals yet, the heaviest snow accumulation was expected to be in the Hudson Bay area.
“The system itself though has now moved out of Saskatchewan, the back side of it will still be affecting Manitoba and some stronger winds still being reported over eastern portions of the province this morning, but the winds are nowhere near as strong as what they were yesterday,” Russo said.
Highways were also treacherous for most of the afternoon Monday, and all night, with the Trans-Canada being closed from Swift Current to Moose Jaw and Highway 11 closed for most of the way between Regina and Saskatoon.
Updates can be found by clicking the highlighted link here.
In Regina, police say since 5:30 p.m. Monday afternoon they’ve responded to 13 collisions, with one resulting in minor injuries.
The normal day time high for Regina this time of year is about 5C , which is about where things will be on Wednesday before a return to the double digits for the Easter long weekend.
Monday night around 9:00 p.m. SaskPower said about 14,500 customers were without power due to 130 separate outages.
Our crews pride themselves on being able to get the lights back on however due to unsafe weather conditions a number of communities will be without power overnight. We’ll have your power restored at the absolute earliest opportunity. Learn more below.
— SaskPower (@SaskPower) March 30, 2021
Updates are posted on the Crown’s Twitter page and website.
Numerous accidents were also recorded around the province, including on the Trans-Canada near Moose Jaw and Swift Current and a jackknifed semi just north of Saskatoon by Hague.
In Alberta emergency crews responded to a massive pile up just east of Brooks, that was said to involve 50 to 70 vehicles.
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