Winter Cycling - It's Blizzard In Saskatoon Today, All HighWays, Schools and Public Transport Closed.

What a Wicked storm, pretty much everything is shut down. Highways, public transport, schools.... More than 100 people have to stay at Cosco (at the city limits) tonight for they are stranded at the store. The Airport is full of overnighters, and closed. My sister inlaw and husband have to stay there overnight as he works there ans they can't leave.

My wife came and picked me up at about 2:00, as I could not bike home, and we were told to leave work as soon as we could.... Good thing for 4 wheels drives.

It was snowing and blowing snow with High winds and a temperature of -24C

The following is the list of closures at 3:00 p.m. today due to the blizzard:
Circle Drive Bridge and Circle Drive remain closed in both directions between Millar Avenue and College Drive.

The following intersections are closed due to the weather:

Wanuskewin Road and Adilman Drive
McOrmond Road, Kerr Road and Highway 5
22nd Street at Highway 7
Preston Avenue and Perimeter Road
Preston South and Circle Drive
Attridge Drive and Circle Drive Southbound
Warman Road and Circle Drive
Gordon Road (Stonebridge)
37th Street and Latrace Road

Motorists are asked to please use extreme caution and ensure your hazard lights (flashers) are on when travelling.


We just got home, I ran in and got the camera, already the truck is already showing a dusting of snow like it's been parked for a few hours. Darn, I just shoveled the other day too!

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3478/07stormih0.jpg

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6421/07storm2mz0.jpg

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/4070/07storm4gg4.jpg

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/2865/07storm5eb2.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3138/img3489smallpf8.jpg

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8808/07storm6copyig9.jpg

Numbers changed to protect the silly....

I knew there was a storm warning today as I headed out to work, and knew it would be a tough slog. I have been riding to work everyday, spring, rain, shine, summer and winter, I just hate giving in.... But today I would have been a hazard on the roads to myself and others.

Other than that it was nice to get off work early. I went for a walk as it was too nice to be stuck inside :D

View from the Office taken from my cell phone.

Traffic on the street was backed up trying to get out of Dodge :lol:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7016/07storm2ks0.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8382/07stormyh4.jpg


I may have to work from home tomorrow :)

Reminds me of my days in Halifax.

The same blizzard is over here in central Alberta too. I didn't go to work until near noon because the roads were too dangerous, and then they let us go home early. And I opted not to cycle ... 30 kms (one way) out into the country to my place of employment might have been a little bit hazardous.

The same blizzard is over here in central Alberta too. I didn't go to work until near noon because the roads were too dangerous, and then they let us go home early. And I opted not to cycle ... 30 kms (one way) out into the country to my place of employment might have been a little bit hazardous.


Most of the people that live in the satellite towns around Saskatoon, were told to go home at about noon time. The radio warned that the highways were closed and as such you could be stranded. Visibility was Zero... With Huge Snow Drifts.

I stayed later as I was making good progress at work and hated to leave, really I did. My Wife called and said she had to pick up our daughter at school as they were closed, and said she wanted to get me at the same time. I live 4 km from downtown and knew I could walk home if I had to.

Hopefully everything is OK for you as well Machka :)

I brought a shovel into the house in case we have to dig our selfs out of the house in the morning ;)

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6421/07storm2mz0.jpg


Hey, you use the same kind of Zefal Magnum water bottle that I use!

(Great pics, btw)

The highway wasn't too bad ... visibility was down to less than a kilometer in places and there were quite a few drifts ... but it wasn't overly slippery or anything. We just took it easy out there ... I think the trip took about twice as long as usual.

And ... the blizzard warning has now ended and the bitterly cold snap has begun. So getting to work tomorrow (by car, not bicycle) should be all right.

Ahh, good to hear it was a relatively safe journey for you. Visibility was zero in town, on the highway it was worse I'm told (negative visibility?). There were huge snow drifts that where grabbing trucks and everything that came in contact. Lots of vehicles in the ditches.

It is said to get to -30C tomorrow.



Thanks Rotten B! :beer:

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2747/saskstorm210fj6.jpg
From the Saskatoon Star Phoenix

It seems like things are sort of back to normal, and most main road ways are clear enough to travel, so I'll head in to work today.

Schools are closed today, and there is still mega car pile ups and abondoned vehicles on the road. many ran out of gas waiting in traffic. I suppose I'm lucky that I live so close to downtown, and acess to my area has many routes.


It will go down as one of the most intense blizzards in the city's history, claiming the lives of two...

Why do you guys get all the fun weather?!? We had only about 2cm of snow, but we did have the howling wind. Today is windy and cold, but still good riding to work conditions.

At least the SGEU had the good sense to send the highways workers back...

Well, I'm not sure everyone considered it fun, but I know what you are refereing to :)

CKOM (http://www.ckom.com) a radio staion in town has a lot of good pictures and video submited to their site.


http://sjl-static15.sjl.youtube.com/vi/aYs7AP8UPic/2.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYs7AP8UPic)

Here is a video of the storm from a Person's garage

Hey ViperZ, just finished up a little forty minute ride around Campus, its nuts, I can cut through the short stuff because I have a cross with studs, but I just road around parking lots and roads. Better than riding the rollers. Enjoy your day off, go ride.

Hey ViperZ, just finished up a little forty minute ride around Campus, its nuts, I can cut through the short stuff because I have a cross with studs, but I just road around parking lots and roads. Better than riding the rollers. Enjoy your day off, go ride.

Great to hear CannondaleKid! I was wondering how well a cross bike works in the snow. I take it the U of S campus path ways were cleared?


I was surprised with the aftermath this morning. There wasn't as much snow as I thought there would be, however I hear the North end was the hardest hit. It was not so mush the amount of snow, rather the cold with 70km/h winds and blowing snow while it was snowing.

Here are some more pictures I took today during lunch. I walked over to Kiwanis Park by the river where they had just finished clearing the major pathway.

Temperature was about -30C

The Saskatchewan river to the left is creating all the mist.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7673/img3513smallhh7.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/8486/dayaftermm5.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7906/dayafter1ap2.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4611/dayafter2ve9.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/4746/dayafter3dh7.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5579/dayafter4yl3.jpg

The view is a lot clearer than yesterday

I hate when you post pictures of Saskatoon, it's soooooo much nicer than Regina. :)

Wow we had insane wind here and high wind chill but nothing like that blizzard. -30F, -54F with the wind chill but you can see for miles which means it's a good day to ride!
http://lh4.google.co.uk/image/Mphetameme/RaelKXmL4WI/AAAAAAAAAAg/X6KwXq_JiJs/temp_011207.jpg

Oh and the scenery isn't so bad in Regina, you just have to know where to go. :D

Here in Winterpeg this morning it was -37 and -48 with the windchill. The cyclists were out there this morning. The courier cyclists also working today. 2 years ago it hit -55 with windchill and the newspaper showed a guy with a 6 inch frost beard. We didn't get the blizzard you got west of here. We did get the snow and now the cold. Kids are home today as the school buses are not running, too cold.

Got to love winter. It must be fantastic to walk in Kiwanis park right now. We are waiting patiently for our first major snow on Cape Cod. Waiting.....waiting.....

Oh and the scenery isn't so bad in Regina, you just have to know where to go. :D

The Freehouse on a Saturday night used to be my favorite place to enjoy the scenery. :)

On the plus side Regina is now nationally recognised by Macleans magazine... as having the worst neighbourhood in all of Canada. :rolleyes:

I think Regina is a beautiful city. I have been there a few times in the last few years. I am friends with Fred at Dutch Cycles. I have done some trading on old bikes with him. He comes to Winnipeg once a year and stops by. I can see what they mean as haveing the worst hood in Canada. I saw 1 area as being poor or rundown. Winnipeg has 1 very bad area also. We have lots of crack houses and have been the murder capital of Canada many times, most of them in the bad area. I live just north of the city right next to Birds Hill Park. Very nice area to live.

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6421/07storm2mz0.jpg



Those studs will be really effective there, :p

Hey Gang, thanks for your comments and for posting :beer:

I think Regina is a pretty city too, and I always enjoy visiting there. I Like the Wascana Park area very much. I have some pictures I took of Regina during my daughter's basketball tournament. Maybe I'll post them later. Most cities have their questionable areas, and Saskatoon certainly has one as well.


KrisA, I love the Chicken Capicola on Focaccia Sandwich at the Spadina Free House! I work just a block away and always order that for lunch :)


Kill Cactus, the studs really help should I hit ice under that deep snow ;)


Good Luck with the snow Capejohn :) One time when I was in Boston, I drove out to the Cape, it was beautiful there!

I think Regina is a beautiful city. I have been there a few times in the last few years. I am friends with Fred at Dutch Cycles. I have done some trading on old bikes with him. He comes to Winnipeg once a year and stops by. I can see what they mean as haveing the worst hood in Canada. I saw 1 area as being poor or rundown. Winnipeg has 1 very bad area also. We have lots of crack houses and have been the murder capital of Canada many times, most of them in the bad area. I live just north of the city right next to Birds Hill Park. Very nice area to live.

Would that be Fred 1, Fred 2, or Fred 3 (Freddie)? ;) That cracks me up, 3 generations of Freds, all super guys! I hope Freddie has a boy, Fred 4. :)

That would be Fred 2.

Would that be Fred 1, Fred 2, or Fred 3 (Freddie)? ;) That cracks me up, 3 generations of Freds, all super guys! I hope Freddie has a boy, Fred 4. :)

I worked with a small group of 10 people once where there were 3 Mikes. I thought that was funny :lol:


Here are a coupe of photos I took of your nice city during my daughter's Basketball tournament in Regina. We stayed at the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson. It was really nice and central. There were some good restaurants down Scarth Street, across from Victoria Park.

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/3640/dscn9783smallrn5.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2591/dscn9843eesmallyk2.jpg

http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/810/dscn9838customkq1.jpg



I took this picture yesterday of the half frozen South Saskatchewan River. Temperature was -27C, but it really felt colder due to the wind and wind chill. I was on the University bridge for this picture.

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/9200/saskatoonqq8.jpg

We stayed at the Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson.

The Hotel Sask is brilliant. We got marriend there and thought it was wonderful. The renos that they did several years back are absolutely spectacular. Whenever we travel we always try to visit "railroad" hotel, I must say the the Sask is one of the nicest inside that we've seen. Plus, unlike the Banff Springs... no mice! :)

The Hotel Sask is brilliant. We got marriend there and thought it was wonderful. The renos that they did several years back are absolutely spectacular. Whenever we travel we always try to visit "railroad" hotel, I must say the the Sask is one of the nicest inside that we've seen. Plus, unlike the Banff Springs... no mice! :)

It was a very memorable stay, to be sure. The breakfast buffet was fantastic as well! We got a special room rate as well, so it was really reasonable for the few days we stayed there. We would certainly stay there again. I loved the free wireless internet connection too :)


These are some more pictures I took of the Hotel and our Room.

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These are some photos taken by a local resident (Elsie) a day or two after the storm. I love the Bike Path Signs :lol: Apparently the ridges are 10 to 14 feet high.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/6182/xing2mediumql7.jpg

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1112/xing3mediumdq2.jpg

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I love the bike path sign !

So, you had a storm that could have left people stranded, crippled the city, and possibly even had loss
of life in the city? Wow!

That brings up an important question.

Did you remember to warm up your bulb on the HID light before going outside?

I love the bike path sign !

So, you had a storm that could have left people stranded, crippled the city, and possibly even had loss
of life in the city? Wow!

That brings up an important question.

Did you remember to warm up your bulb on the HID light before going outside?

I caught a ride home that day with my wife :) She picked me up mid afternoon, as we were all told to get home while the getting was good.


The city was nearly crippled. Lots of people stranded, and abandoned their cars, or ran out of gas. 3 people died in Saskatchewan due to the storm with high winds. I'm actually amazed there were not more accidents on the highways, as visibility was Zero to negative, and there were lots of people driving into ditches.

Although it was only about -27C, with windchill it was around -48C. It has been colder here :)

I like this shot from Rob G.

http://www.newstalk980.com/blizzard/perehudoff-1.jpg

I caught a ride home that day with my wife :) She picked me up mid afternoon, as we were all told to get home while the getting was good.


The city was nearly crippled. Lots of people stranded, and abandoned their cars, or ran out of gas. 3 people died in Saskatchewan due to the storm with high winds. I'm actually amazed there were not more accidents on the highways, as visibility was Zero to negative, and there were lots of people driving in ditches.

All though it was only about -27C, with windchill it was around -48C. It has been colder here :)

I like this shot from Rob G.


I did not realize that there really were so many problems and some deaths. Sorry about that.

Lots of great photos, I like the ones showing the path and the mist from the river ! I hope things are a little more normal today. Last week it was in the 60's here, that's unusual. My studded tires have not moved in months. :( I guess winter is coming this week.

I did not realize that there really were so many problems and some deaths. Sorry about that.

Lots of great photos, I like the ones showing the path and the mist from the river ! I hope things are a little more normal today. Last week it was in the 60's here, that's unusual. My studded tires have not moved in months. :( I guess winter is coming this week.

No Probs 2many.... These things happen.

Thankful to the road crews that was able to clear up most of roads and city the day after. Although we have the snow, the studs are still required on the hard pack, and deeply rutted streets where the crews have not been down.

It had been a fairly mild winter up until last week, however now we are getting into our cold season here. -30C to -40C is typical