Winter arrived in Saskatoon on Tuesday, bringing with it a string of morning collisions on city streets and a snowfall warning for much of central Saskatchewan.
Icy conditions contributed to three accidents on Highway 7 Monday night, including one in which a driver was taken to hospital after his vehicle rolled down the embankment of a train overpass, and the problems continued into Tuesday the snowfall increased.
Collisions were reported Tuesday morning at Circle Drive and Attridge Drive, at 11th Street West and Circle Drive and at other intersections around the city.
The Saskatoon fire department also responded to an accident at 33rd Street West and the Dalmeny grid in which a vehicle came to rest partially in the water after sliding off the road. No one was injured.
“Each year when we see a change in the weather we see an increase in crashes,” MD Ambulance spokesperson Troy Davies said in a news release.
“Drivers need to be reminded to slow down and get used to driving on slippery streets again. Even though we have snow doesn’t mean we have freezing temperatures, which means snow is melting once it hits the streets and highways and creates black ice. “
The Environment Canada snowfall warning for Saskatoon and most of central and northeast Saskatchewan forecasts 10 to 20 centimetres of snow for Tuesday as the storm tracks from southwest Saskatchewan through Saskatoon and then east toward the Manitoba border.
Environment Canada says the snow will gradually taper off as the storm moves into Northern Manitoba, but temperatures are expected to remain well below normal.
