Mother Nature threw a curve ball last week when a substantial snowstorm slammed parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Residents brought out the shovels and snowplows to dig themselves out of mountains of snow, roads were undriveable and some communities lost power because of the storm.
And according to Environment Canada, it looks like some areas will be seeing more of the same this weekend.
Environment Canada says a Colorado low will bring heavy snow, freezing rain and strong winds to southeastern Saskatchewan communities. The southeastern corner of the province was hit the hardest by last week’s weather.
Total accumulations for this weekend’s storm is predicted at 25 to 50 cm on Saturday along with northerly winds with gusts to 80 km/h.
“Really, really messy conditions are expected through much of the southeast of the province over the next 48 to 72 hours,” explained Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“It’s going to be quite an interesting weather sort of scenario, and the impact could be quite significant I think to many parts out there.
The forecast has residents in both urban and rural settings preparing for the worst just over a week after they received a large dump of snow.
It also means farmers will have to again delay seeding operations in the affected areas.
“I think there probably is going to be some delays. I think last year we started seeding at around the 27th or 28th of April, so definitely going to be later than last year,” said Ian Boxall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan.
Boxall, who farms in northeast Saskatchewan in the Melfort area, said producers in parts of the Prairies have not been able to seed because of the snow.
However, while farmers in certain areas will have to pause operations due to the incoming storm, he noted how some are looking forward to the added precipitation.
“I think with last year’s drought, I think most producers are happy to see moisture of any kind. But it is time for the weather to turn and warm up so we can get out there and get doing some work,” Boxall said.
He added that despite the stormy weather, it sounds as if producers are not pushing the panic button just yet.
“We have a couple of weeks before panic should set in,” Boxall suggested. “I think there’s some time here yet for us to get organized and get our crop in the ground kind of by that first of June date.”
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