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Snow, wind and colder temperatures are returning to the southern half of the province, following a warm start to February with very little precipitation.
Lloydminster is already feeling the beginning of a low pressure system rolling in from the west, and is expected to get between 20 and 30 centimetres of snow, with some places reaching as high as 40 centimetres by Wednesday.
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Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says the system could come as a shock to those who have acclimatized to the warmth.
“It’s a very vigorous system coming in from British Columbia,” said Proctor. “We’ve had these anomalously warm conditions across much of the province where really over the last 10 days or so … People have really become accustomed to these warm temperatures and these relatively dry conditions with very little snowfall or snow left on the ground.”
Proctor says he expects the snowfall and high winds to follow the Yellowhead Corridor southeastward, hitting areas like Saskatoon and Yorkton with about 10 to 20 centimetres.
“At this point in time, the majority of that snowfall will be on Tuesday afternoon and evening and into Wednesday. And then we’ll see a lot more blowing snow on Thursday as the cold air really settles in.”
Excluding the southwest corner, the southern two thirds of the province are either under a yellow tier weather advisory, or have a special weather statement. Proctor advises people keep a very close eye on the travel conditions, which are expected to change very quickly through the next two days.
“Typical normal highs for this time of year, about –5 lows –15, we’ve been much warmer than that,” said Proctor. “As we get through the Thursday timeframe, daytime highs will be about –19, so much colder than what we’ve been experiencing recently.”
Proctor says temperatures will begin to moderate again through the weekend and into next week, but any sign of another melt is yet to come.
“We’re not going to be seeing that bare pavement out there,” said Proctor.
“We’re going to see lots of snow and blowing snow. And I wouldn’t be surprised that in some communities, especially on the outskirts of some of the larger centres, we’ll see some really very difficult driving conditions.”
