A winter storm warning remains in effect for the City of Regina, with Environment Canada forecasting 20 to 50 centimetres of snow to fall in the city by Monday.
Brad Vrolijk, a lead forecaster with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says “a pretty potent” Colorado low brought a mix of wintry weather across the border which will last until Monday morning.
The winter storm is bringing heavy snow, wind and freezing rain.
Vrolijk says a second Saskatchewan snowfall, which started Sunday afternoon, will land between Regina and Saskatoon before moving into northern Manitoba.
While the weather agency forecasts up to 50 centimetres of snow, Vrolijk says Regina will likely see between 20 and 30 centimetres by Monday.
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“This is going to be the kind of snow that’s difficult to shovel. It’s very heavy, especially the first batch that’s falling around the freezing mark,” said Global News meteorologist Peter Quinlan.
On Friday, the city of Regina told Global News it is preparing for the storm. The city says it will deploy 60 pieces of snow removal equipment which includes graders, front-end loaders and snow blowers.
“As a city, we haven’t seen a storm that’s forecasted like this in the last number of years,” said Chris Warren, City of Regina roadways and transportation director.
“Our focus is on roads with the greatest volume of traffic, high-speed roads and emergency routes. This pattern continues until the snow has stopped falling.”
Because Regina’s municipal election is on Monday, Warren says crews will make sure polling stations are accessible to voters. On Sunday, crews will clear major arteries in the city and the roads in front of polling stations.
However, at this time it remains unknown if voter turnout will be affected by the storm.
“It’s always hard to say to the extent (the snow) will impact people coming out of course, because we don’t know the severity of the storm,” said returning officer Jim Nicol.
With files from Allison Bamford and the Canadian Press.