Sask. highway closures, travel warnings due to vicious winds, blowing snow

The strong winds that blew through Saskatchewan on Monday made for a treacherous evening and morning on the roads around the province.

Numerous highways were closed around Moose Jaw and Regina overnight and into Tuesday morning.

As of 3:30 p.m., the highways across the province that were closed included Highway 6 south of Regina to Corinne, Highway 39 from Midale to the U.S. border, and stretches of highways 47 and 363.

Travel was not recommended on the Trans-Canada from Wolseley to the Manitoba border.

The same advisory was in place for Highway 6 from Raymore to Naicam, Highway 11 from Aylesbury to Davidson, the Yellowhead Highway from Saskatoon to Dafoe, Highway 5 from Saskatoon to Dafoe, Highway 7 from Delisle to the Alberta border, and numerous other roads.

The brutal conditions also resulted in numerous vehicles sliding into highway ditches.

Dustin was caught in a long line of vehicles on Highway 16 west of Colonsay after a semi lost control and blocked both lanes.

“The double lane to Clavet is good, but after Allan, the roads conditions change drastically. You see more accumulated snow with an icy layer,” he said.

Amber had an awful time driving into Saskatoon from Dundurn.

A drive that normally takes about 15 minutes she said took over 45 minutes.

“Everything is a complete whiteout,” she said. “You’re basically playing guess where the road is.”

The Saskatchewan RCMP said it got 57 weather-related calls from 9 p.m. Monday to 9 a.m. Tuesday.

A blowing snow advisory continued Tuesday morning for Saskatoon and Regina. It was removed from most regions Tuesday afternoon.

Environment Canada meteorologist Brad Vrolik said the blustery conditions would hang around until the afternoon.

“Beginning close to lunch, and through the afternoon, the winds will gradually diminish and we’ll start to see an improvement to conditions,” Vrolik said.

“If you’re out driving this morning, you ‘ll likely see patches of good visibility and patches of extremely poor visibility.”