Freezing rain contributes to 15 crashes in six hours and rush-hour bottlenecks
From freezing temperatures to freezing rain, it has been a wild week of weather in and around Saskatoon.
A freezing-rain warning was in place much of Friday morning in and around the city. According to the weather agency, a warm front brought freezing rain to the Yellowhead corridor.
The icy, slick roads led to a rash of crashes during the morning commute, Saskatoon police and RCMP said.
City officers responded to 15 collisions between 6 a.m. and noon, police said.
No injuries were reported as a result of the collisions in the city, though traffic was slowed greatly by at least two of them during the 8 a.m. rush hour.
Emergency crews were called to a multi-vehicle collision on Circle Drive north near 33rd Street, and to a single-vehicle rollover in the northbound lanes of Circle Drive, north of Taylor Street.
Just outside the city, Warman RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 14, about 11 kilometres west of Saskatoon. Two people were injured, including one seriously.
Road conditions in the area were “wet and icy,” RCMP said. Traffic was diverted.
The forecast high Friday in Saskatoon was 1 C, with a mix of snow and freezing rain. The daily highs on Sunday and Monday are forecast to hit –13 and –14, respectively, before rebounding to 0 on Tuesday.
Earlier this week, the overnight low reached –21 C, well below the average low of around –9 C for this time of year.
Freezing-rain warnings were lifted by about 11:30 a.m. for Saskatoon, Martensville, Warman, Rosthern, Delisle, the Battlefords and area, Humboldt and Wynyard area, and Fort Qu’appelle and area.
New freezing-rain warnings were in effect for the Yorkton and Melville areas, as well as the Moosomin and Grenfell areas.