Prince Albert's KFC on 2nd Ave lost their bucket to high winds yesterday. Residents took the opportunity to create memes and deepfakes on social media. (Dallas Skoropat/Facebook)

By Susan McNeil

Windy weather

Buckets of trouble with 92 km/h wind gusts across central Sask.

Jan 16, 2026 | 12:50 PM

Fierce winds made their presence known across Saskatchewan on Thursday. In Prince Albert, they were strong enough to put a KFC bucket on ice.

The strongest winds recorded by Environment Canada yesterday afternoon were gusting up to 92 km/hour around 4 p.m. That’s right about the time the KFC on 2nd Avenue lost the iconic bucket sign from its roof.

(Facebook)

Another post shortly after showed the bucket on a trailer being taken away; however, social media was not done with the topic. Residents took the opportunity to create memes and deepfakes on social media.

(Facebook)

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Those included this AI video of the bucket blowing across a frozen landscape.

Speaking of blowing across a frozen landscape, staff at Thomas Motors in Melfort created a unique mode of wind-powered transportation. Although wind gusts only reached 67 km/h there, it was still enough for some cardboard wind surfing.

The wind did cause troublesome issues across Saskatchewan highways, with vehicles hitting the ditch as roadways became covered in ice.

The worst of it happened in Southern Saskatchewan where all major routes in and out of Regina were closed, including the Regina bypass.

On Thursday night, Qu’Appelle Fire and Rescue had advised people to stay off of the highways. About two dozen people spent the night camped out in the town’s senior centre.

Saskatchewan RCMP officers were at the scene of a multiple vehicle pile-up near the intersection of Highway #46 and Highway #1, southwest of Balgonie Friday morning. (Submitted photo/Sask RCMP)

RCMP responded to a multi-vehicle pileup at the intersection of Highway 46 and Highway 1, south of Balgonie Friday morning. Police said there were reports of other accidents and vehicles in the ditch due to poor road conditions and recommended motorists check the Highway Hotline before heading out, or avoid unnecessary travel altogether.

Environment Canada issued a blowing snow advisory around 10 a.m. and warned that the southern parts of the province would see near-zero visibility in some places.

The wind is the result of a colder weather system blowing in and replacing the above zero temperatures the province has been experiencing over the last week.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

Editors note: This story was updated to make it clearer that some of the images circulating on social media were created by AI or were deepfakes. The restaurant on 2nd Ave is visibly missing a portion of their sign.