Snow, rain, strong winds, funnel clouds and even tornadoes possible on the Prairies this week.
Wind Warning/Special Weather Statement
Environment Canada has ended a special weather statement for Saskatoon and parts of central, northern, southern Saskatchewan, but a wind warning and special weather statement remains in place for western and eastern regions of the province.
Heavy rain and strong winds will affect portions of Saskatchewan starting on Wednesday and continuing into Friday.
Environment Canada has issued a wind warning for the southwest corner of the province, including Regina, Humboldt, Weyburn, Leader, Maple Creek and Cypress Hills.
Winds are expected to increase to 60 km/h with gusts up to 90 km/h on Wednesday morning as an intense low pressure system moves into Saskatchewan from Alberta.
The winds will subside slighty in the afternoon, but gusty conditions are expected to last into Thursday.
Lloydminster is also under a wind warning, with strong northerly winds with gusts up to 100 km/h possible on Wednesday afternoon.
The strong winds in the border city are expected to last until the evening.
Environment Canada issues wind warnings when there is a significant risk of damaging winds.
Other parts of western Saskatchewan are under a special weather statement.
The low pressure system moving into the province, brining rain and thunderstorms to those regions over the next couple of days.
The heaviest rainfall is expected in the Meadow Lake and Île à la Crosse regions, and towards the southern portion of Cree Lake, with 30 to 50 millimetres of rain likely by the end of Thursday.
Localized thunderstorms could give an excess of 75 mm of rain over the two-day period.
Strong northerly winds are also expected to develop on Thursday as the system passes through, with gusts up to 80 km/h possible towards the Alberta border.
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Saskatoon Forecast
Tuesday
After a beautiful May long weekend with daytime highs of 22 degrees for three days in a row in Saskatoon, we started off the work week in a summery style!
Temperatures dipped back to 6 degrees Tuesday morning, but under partly to mostly cloudy skies we climbed up into the low 20s before noon.
https://twitter.com/PQuinlanGlobal/status/867056563617484801
Southerly winds kicked up midday to speeds of 20 to 30 km/h with gusts of 40 km/h and stuck around and even strengthened further during the afternoon under mostly cloudy skies as we warmed up into the mid 20s.
Wednesday
The low pressure system bringing in the snow and rain to Alberta will bring in the clouds during the day and kick up winds to sustained speeds of 40 km/h with gusts of 60 km/h.
We’ll warm up into the mid 20s by midday before we cool off back into the low 20s in the afternoon with a chance of showers late in the day and into the evening.
Funnel clouds and landspout tornadoes are possible in western Saskatchewan as the system slides in on Wednesday with an unstable airmass in place along with high vorticity values, which measure a rotational aspect in the atmosphere.
READ MORE: How you can stay safe and save lives this severe weather season
Landspout tornadoes are generally weaker and shorter-lived that form when a rotating horizontal tube of air in a cloud gets tilted vertically by the updraft in a thunderstorm or cumulus cloud.
Landspouts can cause damage and carry winds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour.
Thursday-Friday
The centre of this system slides through the province on Thursday, bringing in some rain, cloud cover and switching winds around to the north as we cool to a daytime high in the mid teens.
There is also a risk of funnel clouds and even a landspout tornado on Thursday, although less of a risk compared to Wednesday.
There is likely to be some lingering cloud cover on Friday behind the system with a cool northwest wind keeping temperatures cool with an afternoon high in the mid teens again.
Weekend Outlook
Partly to mostly sunny skies are expected to return in time for the weekend with daytime highs recovering back into the low 20s and winds, however cool northerly winds will keep them from warming much further than that.
Tanya Callaway took this Your Saskatchewan photo at Beaver Creek:
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