Estevan in an ice cube? Freezing rain a possibility in winter storm

As people are preparing for another winter storm - with the last one a bit over a week ago - there are a few differences between the two.

Last week's storm dumped around 30-40 centimeters over the Estevan area and stretched eastward into Manitoba.

The only water to come out of that storm was from all of the melt afterward, with drainage channels being cleared to make way.

But this storm is looking to be a different beast altogether, with rain coming down as well.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Brian Proctor explains just what they're forecasting for this system.

"I think the important thing with this one is that it's tracking a little bit further to the west, so that's going to get us more into the possibility of seeing instead of all that snow we saw last week we'll see potentially some more rain and freezing rain with this one, as the low tracks towards it. It gets more snow on the backside of it sort of Saturday through the afternoon and into the evening."

That mixture will be just at the edge of freezing rain, and with a bit colder surfaces slippery conditions could arise.

"It's gonna be a mixture, it's really a little uncertain at this point in time. What we're hoping, to a certain degree, is that as the precipitation falls to the surface it's gonna cool that layer down and hopefully move it more over toward a mixed rain and snow event as opposed to freezing rain," said Proctor, "Maybe enough warmth at the surface so that'll keep it just above freezing so we won't see that classic freezing rain kind of idea."

With that potential for freezing surfaces, blowing snow might not be as much of a factor as it was last week.

"Oftentimes when we get these events we'll see the moisture almost freezes on contact to a certain degree," said Proctor, "So the grounds a little stickier and a bit warmer so we don't see quite as much blowing snow with it."

Even then, driving conditions will still manage to be difficult.

"The problem is, you'll see difficult driving conditions out there for people with that mixed-phase precipitation. While the visibility may not be as low as it would be in blowing conditions," said Proctor, "It's gonna be a real messy sort of mix of conditions that people are going to have to deal with.