Environment Canada lifts snow squall warnings in southeast

Environment Canada issued warnings for snow squalls in the southeastern corner of Saskatchewan on Thursday morning, but those alerts were cancelled early in the afternoon.

The squall alerts covered Carlyle, Estevan, Moosomin, Yorkton and the surrounding areas. According to the weather service, periods of “brief, intense snowfall” were expected, which were expected to hamper visibility.

Before the alerts were dropped, Environment Canada said it expected the warnings would expand to the east as the day progressed.

Travel still wasn’t recommended on a number of roads in the province, including Highway 6 from Raymore to Lampard and Highway 15 from Nokomis to Lanigan.

Janelle Gergely, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said she expects Regina will see some freezing rain Thursday afternoon.

“Anything that does fall will likely fall as rain, but keep in mind the ground is frozen, so it’s probably rain turning to ice upon contact with the ground,” Gergely said.

After the rain ends, Gergely said temperatures are expected to plummet.

“We’re going to see a drop in temperatures, with the coldest temperatures probably seen by Friday overnight into Saturday morning,” she said.

“That cold front’s going to come through a little bit quicker for Saskatoon, just because they’re farther to the west.”

The latest on the alerts can be found on Environment Canada’s website, and the most recent information on highway conditions can be accessed through Saskatchewan’s Highway Hotline.

According to the RCMP, between midnight and noon Thursday, the Operational Communications Centre got 43 reports of weather-related traffic issues across the province.

The list included multiple crashes, as well as vehicles and semis stuck in the ditch. One of the more serious crashes was between two semis near Rosetown on Highway 7, which resulted in a man being airlifted to hospital by STARS air ambulance.

The highway remained close Thursday afternoon.

The RCMP said temperatures were expected to drop Thursday night, which would cause the roads to become icy.