Western Sask. hammered by storm

Many areasof Saskatchewanwere digging out fromheavy, wet snow on Mondayand roadshave been treacherous.

Winter storm warnings were issued Monday morning for a wide area running right up the Alberta border.

Highway 1 west of Gull Lake to the Saskatchewan-Alberta border was closed on Monday afternoon due to bad road conditions.

The situation was particularly bad around Maple Creek. Snow and blowing snow resulted in zero visibility on the highways.

Tow truck driver Vince Scott said he got stuck on the way out to a call, and he had to leave his vehicle behind.

"You can't move to the east, like on the old 724," Scott told CBC News on Monday afternoon.

"You can't move to the north or the south on the 21. And Highway 1 is iced right up."

Stay off roads, motorists urged

Maple Creek RCMPsaid snow plows were out trying to clear the roads, but people are advised to stayoff the roads until the stormy weather passes.

Environment Canada meteorologist Mike McDonald said the storms will make driving difficult.

"The highways [are] probably not too bad to start off with but certainly when the accumulations start to pile up here later on this morning, the roads will get very thick with the wet snow," he said.

According to an Environment Canada radar map, the worst area for snow was the triangle formed by Val Marie, Swift Current and Maple Creek.

Many places in the southwest are looking at about 20 centimetresalthough parts of the Cypress Hills region could see as much as 40 centimetres.

Winds will be gusting to 60 kilometres an hour, meaning very low visibility.

Saskatoon was expected to get rain. The storm missed Regina, however.