High winds, heavy snow in forecast for next 36 hours

A winter storm is coming to the Weyburn area, and it is potent enough it has prompted Environment Canada to issue a blizzard warning for southeast Saskatchewan. High winds, heavy snow and more are all expected over the course of the next 24 to 36 hours.  

“This snow should start moving in late this afternoon, into this evening, with the heaviest of the snow falling overnight and then tapering off tomorrow afternoon,” explained Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “We’re expecting in the Weyburn area, probably about 15 or so centimetres of snow. The 30 centimetres would probably fall closer to the US border and areas that are in higher terrain, so I wouldn’t expect much more than that.” 

The high winds, of course, will make measuring the snow difficult at times, as it will be blowing accumulations around, and causing snow drifts to develop. The wind is expected to slowly increase over the course of the afternoon and into the overnight hours as well. 

“Strongest of the winds will probably be in the overnight period, but they’ll continue overnight and into Saturday morning, so we expect this snow and blowing snow to really amp up late this evening, and into the overnight period and through tomorrow morning, with conditions slowly improving tomorrow afternoon as the winds sort of ease off and the snow dies down,” Lang added, optimistically pointing out the system will be moving through rather quickly.  

The snow drifts caused by the winds will also be an issue in many areas, including the highways. Lang said the snow could get fairly packed, so what could look like a fluffy snow bank could be packed as hard as a rock.  

Behind the storm, temperatures are expected to be slightly before normal, but then things should warm up according to the forecast from Environment Canada by the middle of next week. That doesn’t mean the snow we see this weekend will be going anywhere right away, though. 

“I don’t think it’s going to be doing a whole ton of melting, but it would be nice to get some milder temperatures since we’re starting to get into mid-March, and we’re getting kind of impatient for spring,” Lang added.  

The highways are also expected to be in less-than-ideal condition during the storm. Reduced visibility, along with drifting and swirling snow, and some snow drifts are to be expected. You can keep up to date with the latest highway conditions by visiting the Discover Weyburn Road Report page.