Saskatoon city crews are operating with full force after the city saw more than 34 centimetres of snow in the days since Dec. 25.
“I wish I would have went on a hot holiday for Christmas now,” said Saskatoon resident Jeff Preston.
“I was up at 5:30 this morning shovelling just so we could get out of our cul-de-sac.”
Wednesday morning, 28 graders, eight snowplows, 12 sanders and three sidewalk plows started clearing the streets for holiday travellers.
Once crews are finished clearing the main routes, they will be switching to a city-wide grading and removal program.
Meteorologist Sara Hoffman with Environment and Climate Change Canada said a low-pressure system, like the one Saskatoon just saw, usually brings high volumes of snow.
“It would be a lot less common to have persistent steady snow for an entire month and get our snowfall accumulation that way,” said Hoffman. “It’s much more common for these low-pressure systems to rip across the Prairies and dump 10 centimetres of snow at a time.”
Hoffman said Saskatoon can expect to see some lingering snow throughout Wednesday as the system moves into Manitoba.
“Public safety is our top priority, and we are doing everything we can to get everyone moving around normally again, including those who live along streets that aren’t typically graded,” says Director of Roadways, Fleet and Support Services, Goran Saric. “This is a challenging situation with many residential streets impassable for light vehicles.”
A residential street grading schedule is being developed and will be posted to saskatoon.ca/snow later this week.
Travellers are asked to drive with caution, as blowing snow has reduced some areas to one-lane traffic.