Tisdale resident Doug Tkachuk digs his cars out of the snow after the area received about 25cm of snow overnight on Saturday. (submitted photo)

By Logan Lehmann

Winter storm aftermath

Alberta clipper leaves Sask. residents digging themselves out of the snow

Nov 6, 2022 | 5:30 PM

This weekend’s snowstorm caused quite the ruckus in Central Saskatchewan communities, affecting businesses, sporting events and city streets.

According to online weather reports, North Battleford saw white-out like conditions where visibility was next to zero with 12-16 centimeters of snow and winds gusting up to 65 kilometers per hour. Elsewhere like La Ronge saw 19 cm with 54 km/h winds, while the west central part of the province experienced 16-20 cm with winds exceeding 60 km/h.

Melfort and surround areas saw nearly 25 cm of snow where winds gusted up to 60 km/h. In Tisdale, the wind and snow left people like Doug Tkachuk digging out eight-feet high snow drifts. His wife, Val said he has been working non-stop clearing snow since Saturday afternoon.

“There was probably two feet of snow on top of his vehicle,” she said. “He went out a couple of times last night and when he came back in, he said, ‘I’m going to wait til morning and I’ll go out again’ and when we woke up this morning we couldn’t believe it. The snow was up to my waist.”

Enviroment and Climate Change Canada is forecasting light snow tonight in Prince Albert with a low of -20 Celsius. More snow is expected Monday night and into Tuesday.

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More snow is also expected in Melfort and North Battleford in the coming days.

City tow operators receive dozens of call for service

In Prince Albert, the storm saw as much as 18 cm fall with winds gusting up to 81 km/h. Some main arterial routes like 15th Street were down to one lane, while some residential areas were impassable.

A street in the Crescent Acres neighbourhood of Prince Albert that saw snow drifts as high as street signs. (submitted photo)

City administration is reporting roadway crews have been busy clearing priority one streets since Saturday and were back at work at 5 a.m. on Sunday. Crews are still out and will return again early tomorrow morning. Once priority one streets are complete, the focus will turn to priority two streets.

Danny Goodwin with Gateway Towing in PA says he has been working around the clock to help stranded residents get unstuck on city streets.

“To put it in one word, it’s overwhelming,” he said. “Last winter, we had a couple of days where it was like this but not this early in the season. The phones won’t stop ringing, you’re lucky if you get a five-minute break from pulling people out. I finally shut down at 1 a.m. last night and I was [back out] by 6:20 a.m., and from that short four and a half hour sleep I had, we had 47 calls for service.”

On Sunday, Saskatchewan RCMP released a statement about the recent storm saying residents shouldn’t travel unless necessary, and to check the Highway Hotline if they do decide to go out.

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logan.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @lloganlehmann