Saskatoon hit with another wave of spring snowfall

A grader on a Saskatoon street on Dec. 9, 2024. (Chad Hills/CTV News) 

A fleet of city crews and contractors were out Friday morning clearing Saskatoon’s roadways after a late-season snowfall brought between six to 15 centimetres of accumulation.

The City of Saskatoon cautioned commuters to slow down in the morning and keep an increased distance between vehicles as 24 graders and four plows work to clear snow from priority streets.

For the bus riders of the city, Saskatoon Transit advised of possible delays Friday morning due to collisions, or bus stops made inaccessible by drifting snow. It says staff will keep an eye on conditions and adjust services as needed.

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In a news release Friday morning, the city advised residents to check the status of their snow clearing efforts with its priority street snow grading map. By 9 a.m., no streets were yet marked as cleared, but the map is subject to errors, according to the city’s own disclaimer on the website.

With temperatures expected to rise above 0 C Friday, mother nature could make short work of the snow on its own, in any case.

This mid-April snowfall may not have been a welcome sight, but it’s not uncommon for the season, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang.

“We tend to get our biggest snowfalls in the spring and in the fall,” Lang told CTV News Thursday.

“There’s a tug of war between cold air to the north and warming air to the south. It’s that clash which creates bigger snowfalls. Warm air can hold a lot more moisture and the last couple of Aprils have been quite dry.”

Temperatures are expected to rise significantly over the next few days, with highs forecast between 15 and 20 C by Tuesday, so Saskatoon residents may soon get the chance to trade their gloves and scarves for short sleeves and sun tans.

-With files from Caitlin Brezinski