Weather wreaking havoc on roads in northeast Saskatchewan

Drivers on Highway 41 were facing delays of up to three hours after a collision Wednesday afternoon.

There wasn’t a detour in place, but police were recommending drivers look for alternate routes with the accident between the junction of Highway 368 and Highway 20.

Darnell Kuzek was slowed down to roughly 60 kilometres per hour as he moved between Melfort and Wakaw, where he saw seven semis in the ditch.

“Seems like every four or five miles there’s a semi sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck,” Kuzek said. “They’re not right in the ditch, they’re just off the side like they slid off the road.”

Kuzek said freezing rain and snow earlier in the day was originally melting and by 3 p.m., the snow and ice had begun to build up.

“It’s extremely slippery,” he added.

Travel wasn’t recommended on that highway due to icy and slippery sections. Highway 6 from Naicam to the intersection with Highway 55 also was affected by the weather, as were other highways in the area.

Environment Canada said heavy snow will continue to hit certain parts of the province throughout the night and carry on into Thursday.

“North of the Yellowhead Highway is where we’re seeing the heavy stuff,” Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang said. “Some areas like Meadow Lake, Prince Albert (and) all the way down through Yorkton, they’re seeing some very heavy snows.”

Lang said highway conditions Wednesday afternoon were not ideal.

“Winds aren’t too bad so blowing snow is not really an issue, but certainly accumulating snow and slippery roads (are) really an issue,” she said.

The Saskatoon area is expecting to see some snow throughout Wednesday evening.

By Thursday morning, Saskatoon could see up to five centimeters of snow, according to Lang.

Prince Albert and Meadow Lake could see between 20 and 25 cm by Thursday morning.

Lang warns that highway conditions could become even worse by Thursday with freezing temperatures overnight.

“The snow will slowly pull out on Thursday morning, but because the temperatures are dropping below freezing, the roads will become quite slippery,” she said.

After a very dry October in the province, Lang said the precipitation that’s projected throughout November is much needed.

“It has been a pretty warm and dry fall so far, so we’re kind of behind the season precipitation-wise,” she said. “We actually need the moisture to come. We haven’t had a lot of snow or rain for that matter.”

Click here for the latest road conditions.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Keenan Sorokan and Dallas Dahlseide