KENASTON - It was the weekend where most Saskatchewan residents stayed in and stayed warm.
Although most of January was rather mild as far as the weather was concerned, the month ended with a bang on Friday, January 31 by going out with a blast of cold, frigid winds.
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a number of blowing snow advisories that day for much of the south-central part of the province, stretching from the Alberta border to the Manitoba border.
Travel was not recommended on Highway 15 heading west between Outlook and Rosetown, and Highway 219 just outside of Broderick was a complete whiteout for the day, making for treachorous travel. As well, roads between Dinsmore and Beechy were said to be hazardous as well.
Elsewhere, the province's Highway Hotline posted around 7:30 p.m. that a number of roads had been closed because of zero visibility conditions including Highway 1 from Moose Jaw to Regina, Highway 1 from Belle Plaine to Moose Jaw, Highway 11 from Regina to Lumsden, and Highway 6 from Regina to Piapot Grid.
The wild weather, which included blowing snow at such a frantic and whirlwind pace that it caused a number of vehicles to swerve into the ditch, caused a number of nearby communities to open their facilities to any stranded motorists, including the village of Kenaston, which opened the doors to Kenaston Place for anyone who needed shelter on Friday and also provided water, blankets and granola bars.
One of those stranded motorists was Outlook resident Kathi Sandbeck, who was traveling with her husband Wayne. Taking to social media to express her gratitude, Sandbeck was moved by the generosity of Kenaston residents who made sure that people were safe and taken care of as the winter storm continued to rage on.
"Not sure where to post this, but my husband and I wanted to say thank you very much to the Kenaston community for opening their town hall to travellers on Friday, January 31 during the storm!" wrote Kathi. "And we also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Mike Hertz for seeing us stranded at 5:30 in the morning stuck in a snow drift beside the DLC learning centre and coming with a shovel to dig us out! There are truly angels about!"
After the storm subsided, the winter weather got more "normal" for this time of year, with temperatures dipping to -25 and colder throughout the weekend. Conditions are set to remain in the mid teens for Outlook and area throughout the rest of this week.
