April 20th, 2023
A meme by Saskatoon’s 92.9 The Bull radio station declaring that we are in “Fourth Winter” may feel pretty accurate by many in Southern Saskatchewan yesterday and today as a Spring storm has taken the province from hopes of spring back into memories of winter.
Image from 92.9 The Bull radio station social page
The snowstorm had roads closed, and travel was not recommended on many roads around southern Saskatchewan. The severe weather alert of a snowfall warning issued by Environment Canada said, “A low-pressure complex near the Canada/U.S. border has spread heavy snowfall inso southeastern Saskatchewan and Southwestern Manitoba. Accumulating snowfall will taper off through the day on Thursday into Friday night.”
Saskatchewan’s water security agency’s most recent spring run-off update said they don’t expect there to be “significant flood impacts at this time…Most of the Qu’Appelle River is now ice free, reducing the risk of ice jams and also increasing the river’s ability to move water downstream, reducing the risk of potential flooding.”
Taking into the wet, heavy snow forecast, they said, “Snow is expected to accumulate but, with cooler temperatures expected late in the week, it is expected to melt slower with significant amounts soaking into the ground. A slower melt will reduce the amount contributing to streamflow and allow more water to soak into the ground and improve soil moisture conditions.”
For commuters, the icy roads had some people attempting the journey. A regular poster on the Facebook group “Highway #6 North of Regina” Landon Shreeves, posted, “...I bet you all thought you heard the last of me. Sorry about your luck, here I am. So…if you're a good skater, I would just put skates on instead of driving. It’s pretty much pure ice from Southey town to city...”
The weather didn’t hamper the RM of Longlaketon’s Wednesday night AGM from going ahead. CAO Courtney Huber said the day before they had discussed potentially postponing it but decided to go ahead when it seemed the weather wouldn’t be as bad. She noted that they had no issues while travelling to the meeting. Other than Council and council staff, there were two attendees. The previous year they had ten.
Don’t expect any super balmy spring weather for the week ahead as nighttime temperatures are around -3 to -11, and daytime temperatures slowly rise to +7 by Wednesday. Let’s hope there won’t be a need to update the meme to include “fifth winter.”
