Kinsmen Park in Prince Albert is blanketed in fresh snow. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Lot of snow out there

Big snowfall hits P.A. and Northeast

Nov 8, 2020 | 1:26 PM

Over the weekend, Saskatchewan is undergoing a very quick transition from fall into winter.

Heavy snowfalls have hit most of the province, including Prince Albert and the Northeast, causing difficult driving conditions.

“This is not really common for us at this time of the year,” said City of Prince Albert roads manager Brent Kennedy. “We’re always ready for it in November, but not this amount of snow. Usually, we won’t see this until just before Christmas or right after Christmas.”

Kennedy said plows are working throughout the city and working on clearing the top priority roads like Second Avenue East, 15th Street, Marquis Road, and River Street to name a few. Kennedy estimated the Priority 1 roads would be cleared by Sunday evening.

“Be patient. We’re out there,” Kennedy said. “We only have so much manpower, and they have to have a break every now and again, too. Just be patient with us.”

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Kinsmen Park in Prince Albert received quite a bit of snow. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Environment Canada lead forecaster Brad Vrolijk classified the storm as a ‘Colorado low’ system. They typically come at shoulder seasons, so late fall/early winter, late winter/early spring, and can produce heavy snows like the ones the province has seen so far this weekend. But Vrolijk said these particular systems don’t always find their ways up to Prince Albert.

Vrolijk anticipates Prince Albert to receive 5-10 cms of snow throughout the day and another 5-10 cms tonight. But the Northeast region, including the Nipawin area could see up to 50 cms starting around this evening.

“The thing to note is you are right on the edge of the system,” Vrojilk said of Prince Albert. “Immediately to the east when you get towards the Nipawin region, from this system, they’re going to see 30-50 cms of snow.”

West of Prince Albert, that’s where the system seems to die down. The Spiritwood area could only get 5 cms, according to Vrolijk.

The farther south you go in the province, the worse the conditions. Highway 1 from the Alberta border to Gull Lake is closed due to heavy snow, reduced visibility, and ice-covered road conditions.

The Southeast corner around Yorkton, Melville, and Canora has been experiencing freezing rain, with 40 km/h winds in the area.

Avoid travel

Parkland Ambulance Paramedics reminded the public to avoid unnecessary travel.

In a media release Sunday it said due to ice and snow many highways in the Prince Albert area maybe slippery, snow packed and with blowing snow, have poor visibility.The snow is making things difficult to also get around in the City. While City crews will be doing their best, it will take time to clear the snow especially in the residential areas.

Please do your best to clear your sidewalk of ice and snow so that paramedics can get to your residence.

Editor’s note: this story was amended Sunday night to include information from Parkland Ambulance Paramedics

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW