A “one-two punch” of snow is bearing down on Saskatoon this weekend, says Global News meteorologist Peter Quinlan.
A Colorado low is set to move across Saskatchewan with the snow starting on Saturday morning before tapering off on Monday.
“Usually our systems are Alberta clippers. They’re very fast-moving systems, that’s why we don’t see a ton of moisture with them,” Quinlan said.
“This (Colorado low) is precipitation-packed… and we’re actually going to see Pacific moisture associated with a different disturbance combining with that to create quite the dump of snow.”
That dump of snow could be upwards of 50 cm.
“We’re going to see 10 to 20 cm on Saturday. We won’t be done yet,” Quinlan said.
“We’re going to see another brunt of 10 to 20 maybe even 30 cm into early Monday.”
Pamela Goulden-McLeod, Saskatoon’s Emergency Management Organization director, said this could affect people safely getting around the city on the weekend.
“For this reason, we need to all prepare for the possibility that we might need to stay home for a few days and plan accordingly,” Goulden-McLeod said.
The City of Saskatoon said preparations are underway for crews to deal with a severe winter storm.
“We’ll have as many as 200 workers out clearing the city, and that’s pretty significant,” said Terry Schmidt, the city’s general manager of transportation and construction.
“If the snow is as bad as predicted, it’s possible that streets may get snowdrifts or icy conditions between passes from our equipment. Drivers will need to take great care and even stay off the streets if they can.”
City officials said crews will clear high-traffic roads such as Circle Drive and 8th Street during the storm and ensuring access is maintained to hospitals, fire halls and police headquarters.
Quinlan expects snowfall warnings will be issued and there is the chance of a blizzard warning.
“We’re going to have reduced visibility, we’re going to have winds gusting up to 60 km/h as the snow falls,” Quinlan said.
“So we actually could see a blizzard warning if we have four consecutive hours of 400-metre visibility or less, especially on Sunday.”