Despite temperatures warming, slick road conditions may still be in effect for Saskatchewan drivers over the next two weeks. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Temperatures fluctuating

Weather improving, driving cautions remain

Mar 1, 2021 | 3:33 PM

Drivers in Northwest Saskatchewan are going to continue to be tested this March.

Daily highs are expected to rise above 0 C by Wednesday throughout the region and remain in the plus category until late next week with plenty of sunshine.

While many residents are ready to embrace some gradual warmth, lows will dip back below freezing for the next 14 days. This presents another risk of snow melting, then freezing over at night. North Battleford Deputy Fire Chief Colin O’Hara told battlefordsNOW that this is something motorists will have to constantly monitor, regardless of the distance they’re driving.

“We’ve had a pretty good temperature change,. It’s going to make those road conditions less than ideal,” he said. “So, people should exercise caution when driving in town and outside of town.”

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A few centimetres of snow fell over the weekend and there could be more by next weekend. While there isn’t any precipitation forecast for the next few days, there could be strong winds. On Tuesday, the Battlefords are expected to have gusts of more than 40 kilometres and average wind speeds of nearly 30 kilometres.

“Anytime snow is falling and wind is blowing, you should be cautious,” O’Hara said.

As of Monday, the Battlefords forecast to have a high of 2 C on both Wednesday and Thursday, getting to as high as 7 C on Saturday. Meadow Lake will be more consistently warmer, with a high of 5 from Thursday to Saturday, but temperatures will cool down more quickly next week with a low of 1 by March 9.

There were concerns last week, with periods of snow and dropping temperatures hitting the weekend, that the fire department was going to see more activity, but O’Hara said the department was less active than expected.

“People have doing a pretty good job of [driving safely] and we hope that continues,” he said.

And even if roads are better than expected this week, O’Hara wants motorists to keep driving with due caution.

“The posted speed limit is under ideal conditions and these [at times] have been less than ideal conditions,” he said. “So, people need to drive accordingly.”

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