Snow blowing across an intersection in Downtown Weyburn before sunrise Sunday morning.

The blowing snow and blizzard warnings issued across Southern Saskatchewan have ended, but a wind chill warning has taken over.  

Weather Canada issued a blowing snow warning and a blizzard warning for much of southern Saskatchewan this morning.  They said we would experience blizzard conditions with zero or near zero visibilities across Southeast Saskatchewan.  And they were correct.  

The blowing snow and blizzard warnings were caused by a strong Arctic cold front, which had pushed across Southern Saskatchewan Sunday morning.  The front was ushering in strong northerly winds with gusts up to 70 or 80 km/hr.  This caused blowing snow, which made for poor visibility over open areas.  Visibility of less that 500 metres was widespread through the morning with spots of zero or near-zero visibility, especially closer to the border.  Highway travel became difficult and was not recommended in some areas due to the conditions.  

For much of the day highway travel was not recommended in and around Weyburn.  Many motorists were left waiting for assistance and there was at least one three-vehicle collision outside of Estevan on Highway 39.  Emergency personnel responding to calls had difficulty getting to those involved due to the conditions.  RCMP had asked motorists not travel on highways until highway and weather conditions improve.  

This evening, conditions have mostly cleared, blizzard and blowing snow warnings have ended, and highways around Weyburn have been showing winter conditions exist.  The wind is expected to die down a bit tonight, however with much colder air coming in, wind chills are expected to make it feel more like minus 40 to minus 45 through the night.  

With wind chills bringing the temperature below minus 40, a wind chill warning has been issued and will probably stand through Monday.