Blizzard batters Saskatoon - Reverse Blog

"City grinds to halt as blizzard brings 90 km/h winds and 25 cm of snow. The only Saskatoon storm in the past half-century that comes close to Wednesday's storm occurred on Dec. 12, 1955.Since 1953, there have been 18 blizzards recorded in the city. But other than in 1955, none compare to the snow and duration of Wednesday's blast.Mother Nature has proven she still wields power. Abandoned vehicles littered the city Wednesday, paralyzed by the snow and poor visibility.By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the city announced all downtown streets were at near gridlock conditions and people were advised to stay off the streets.

Emergency services spent the day trying to contain the pandemonium, responding to accidents, closing highways, locating missing people, transporting women in labour and checking abandoned cars for stranded people. Eventually, the police determined only calls involving a crime in progress or life-threatening situations would be answered.


Around 2 p.m., police ordered Circle Drive Bridge closed in both directions between Millar Avenue and College Drive as officers reported zero visibility.

14 major intersections were shut down or deemed impassable.

Transit was halted.. The airport was filled with hundreds of potential passengers. The lineup at the airline counters stretched nearly 100 metres, all of the seats in the food court were filled.

The blizzard conditions have tapered off overnight, but things haven't got a whole lot better today. A bitterly cold Arctic air mass is moving in with extreme wind chills of around -41 C today.

.... all here though, are alive and well.. just wished we'd have stayed another week in chile ;)