Residents woke up on Thursday morning to the drone of snow removal equipment once again in the Energy City, following a fresh wave of snow blowing it's way into the region.

"The City of Estevan doesn't have a whole lot of a snowpack or accumulation this winter thus far, but some of these light dustings of snow and the thaw, cold one day and warm the next, does make it slick in some intersections," observed Roads and Drainage Manager Norm Mack.

"For the most part, we've been shaving down our streets prior to this so it's enabled us to show some of the bare pavement. However, we keep the sanding trucks out at all times. We monitor the intersections and we've been sanding all winter long."

He added that the recent roller coaster temperature trends have had their effect on the roads, and it's something that they pay attention to.

"It does happen, and with the warm and cold weather with a light dusting of snow it does slicken up. Then you get into arctic conditions, with high winds and cold temperatures that just polish the streets."

"As I said before, we do have the sander trucks out when this happens. However, they can't do 100 percent of all the streets we do, just due to the intersections that need it, but we're always looking after the ice conditions," said Mack.

The temperature swings also like to play havoc on the roads in other ways, specifically in the form of potholes.

"When the weather warms up with more moisture, if there's any cracks in the pavement, it does find it's way into the cracks. Then it will freeze again, expand the ice and pop the cracks open. That's why I put emphasis on maintaining our pavement over the summer, making sure that the cracks are sealed with crack sealing material. It's very important and avoids a lot of potholes."