Wind gusts reached at least 100 km/h in many parts of Saskatchewan last night, including Regina. Photo courtesy Michael Ball.
It’s not over yet, but it appears the worst of an intense Alberta Clipper system is past us in Saskatchewan.
After freezing rain for many communities on Wednesday afternoon, snow started to fall and the wind rapidly increased to damaging levels late in the afternoon and into the overnight hours.
Regina, which remained under a Blizzard Warning until 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, saw a peak wind gust of 126 km/h at the University station and 115 km/h at the airport early Thursday morning.
A new roof at Judge Bryant School suffered damage from wind gusts that exceeded 100 km/h overnight Wednesday and Thursday morning. Photo Mitchell Blair.
Moose Jaw recorded a peak gust of 119 km/h, however Environment Canada says the sensor went down during the storm.
Regina and Moose Jaw were not the only centres to record damaging winds;
Bratts Lake 143
Yellowgrass 133
Elbow 122
Mankota 120
Estevan 120 (sensor went off line during the peak of the storm)
Eastend Cypress 111
Swift Current 109
Rockglen 106 (sensor went off line during the peak of the storm.
Rosetown 104
Maple Creek 104
Weyburn 102 (sensor went off line during the peak of the storm)
Leader 100.
Highways continue to be closed and extremely dangerous across the province, with many reporting ice covered conditions, blowing snow and zero or greatly reduced visibility.
Updates can be found on the Highway Hotline website.
BLIZZARD Warning now in effect since 5:28pm local time for the area pic.twitter.com/Grk9v3kDU1
— Prairie Storm Chasers (@PrairieChasers) January 14, 2021
Many residents across Regina found themselves snowed in with huge snow drifts caused by the excessive winds. Residents in the Harbour Landing area were particularly stuck.
While not a lot of new snow fell Wednesday night the strong winds created drifts in many parts of Regina. Photo Josh Sigurdson.
Power outages, including one affecting White City, Emerald Park, Balgonie, Pilot Butte, Indian Head and Fort Qu’Appelle continue to keep SaskPower crews busy, in many cases crews are not able to provide an estimated time of repair due to the storm.
A large outage is also affecting Swift Current and many rural areas of southwestern Saskatchewan and up to the Davidson area.
If you've lost your Christmas tree, we've found it! Our crews are working hard to safely restore power to those affected by last night's storm. If you come across a downed power line, keep a safe distance and call us at 310-2220. Learn more: https://t.co/XLp9X8pddq pic.twitter.com/4PLVbrVDU5
— SaskPower (@SaskPower) January 14, 2021
The City of Regina says snow routes will be in effect as of 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning.
Related:
Environment Canada says over southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba blizzard conditions are expected to improve Thursday morning as the snow diminishes in intensity.
However, strong northwesterly winds will persist maintaining blowing snow in the region throughout the day with the blowing snow not ending until Thursday evening.
Meanwhile looking back to Wednesday, mild temperatures preceded the storm in many communities, including Regina, where the mercury climbed to 6 C, breaking a record that was set back in 1980.
