The city's roadways manager says crews were prepared and performing as directed when the first snowflakes began falling in Saskatoon Tuesday morning.

Saskatoon's first snowfall of the year had ice covering many roads and intersections by the time the morning commute started, as collisions, close calls and skids were experienced across the city.

"We've had lots of time to prepare, adjust our plans and tweak them and improve every year," roadways manager Tracey Danielson said. "I think we're gonna have a great winter season ahead of us."

Danielson asked drivers to remain patient as crews continue to work on clearing roads of snow and ice, but did say the ice-covered roads experienced by many motorists Tuesday were due to snow starting to fall at 3 a.m.

"The timing of the snowfall did not allow sufficient time for the crews to apply de-icing materials on all priority streets in Saskatoon," she said.

Getting salt and sand on all priority streets can take up to 12 hours, Danielson said. She also pointed out how city crews only respond to a snowfall once the snow falls, and not beforehand.

"The icy conditions have to first be there, so having only a few hours before the morning commute just meant that they couldn't make it to all streets in Saskatoon," she said.

Danielson said 11 sanding trucks were out at 3 a.m., mainly focusing on high-speed streets like Circle Drive, which was the only street to be properly de-iced before the morning commute began at 6 a.m.

Ward 4 councillor Troy Davies understands the timing made for a difficult drive.

"We're trying to catch up to traffic for 300,000 people in three hours time at rush hour," he said. "So it was probably the worst-case scenario."

University Bridge was a particularly troublesome spot as some vehicles were unable to get up the bridge in the icy conditions.

Between 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saskatoon police responded to 32 collisions, with no serious injuries reported

Although the first snowfall of the season seems early this year, Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang says it's actually a day later than last year's first snowfall.

"I think it's a bit more of a shocker just because September was so warm and most of October was really warm as well," Lang said. "So and I think there's a lot of us who are in denial about it."

Lang estimates around five centimetres of snow fell just south of Saskatoon overnight and into the morning. The Kindersley area was the hardest hit with roughly 22 cm of snow. Regina experienced between nine and 12 cm.

Lang expects the snow to stick around in places like Kindersley where heavier snowfall was measured, but the first encounter with winter will be brief in other areas.

"We're getting into a bit of a colder air mass for probably the next week or so, but I don't think it's here for the winter. It's a bit early," she said.

Typically, snowfall in the first week of November can last throughout winter. Lang said forecasts are calling for an El Nino this winter, a weather pattern that brings warmer and drier conditions.