Winter blast blankets Prince Albert, parts of central Sask.

SASKATOON -

Residents in Central Saskatchewan woke up to fresh snow on the ground and light winds as a low pressure system from Alberta delivered Saskatchewa's first winter storm of the season.

"It’s moving along just south of the Yellowhead Highway and north of that system in where all the snow is occurring. South there’s not much going on,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) reported snow in Meadow Lake and Prince Albert. Both regions are expected to receive 10 centimetres of snow, ECCC said. 

Areas of Nipawin, Hudson Bay, Kamsack and east to the Manitoba border can expect as much as 20 centimetres, according to ECCC. Yorkton and Canora areas are expected to get 15 to 20 centimetres of snow.

The low pressure system is likely to cause the snow to continue to fall until Thursday according to the ECCC forecast.

"It’s not a true Clipper," Lang said, as milder temperatures are expected next week.

"If the temperatures recover enough, this might not be the snow that stays for the winter."

South of the Yellowhead Highway there hasn’t been much accumulations of snow. Saskatoon and North Battleford will likely see about two to five centimetres of snow in the next day, Lang said. 

Lang said the snow is good reminder for people to put emergency kits and winter clothes in their vehicles to prepare for colder temperatures and more snow through the winter months.

A spokesperson from the Highway Hotline said highway conditions in the Prince Albert, Melfort, Tisdale and Nipawin areas were the most severe in the province this morning.

Anyone heading out on the highways is advised to check the Highway Hotline before traveling.