Praire Wind

There is an annual event I participate in every April.  I call it the: Winter In April Across The Prairies Event.  It seems that participation in this event is not optional.  This year the special guest, courtesy of Mother Nature, was the wind.  Wind accompanied the regulars; snow, ice, sleet, and drifting snow.  Luckily I had the view from the balcony and was not on the main stage for this event.  It was a long and drawn out affair this year starting last Thursday and stretching itself out well into Saturday evening.  It was a large venue covering an area from Calgary to Edmonton to Saskatoon to Regina.  Everyone in the area was welcome.  I should also mention it seems that each year I usually show up for the party with an empty trailer or a load light enough to rate as an empty.  This year was no exception.

I left Winnipeg last Friday thinking that I had a nice easy two day ride up to Edmonton.  No hurry, no pressure, and the balance of the weekend off when I arrived.  A little rest and relaxation after a busy week. I started getting hit with the wind gusts when I crossed the Saskatchewan line.  By the time I had reached Indian Head I was in the midst of a tempest.  Very strange as I was still in sun and blue skies but the trailer was been hit with hard gusts and pushed out of the travel lane and on to the shoulder.  There was a row of 35 foot tall evergreens swaying in the wind like bulrush in a strong breeze.  Small ponds were filled with large white capped waves.  Metal road signs had been bent around there 4x4 posts, some had snapped off, others were vibrating madly in the wind.  Who says the prairies are a boring drive?

I stopped in Regina for a brief rest and a bite to eat planning to continue on.  Not so.  The highway to Saskatoon was closed for ice, snow, and zero visibility.  The word at the Regina Husky was that there were 13 semi's jack knifed between Davidson and Dundurn.  The Regina Husky does not look like an inviting place to spend your evening at the best of times but on this day it looked pretty good to me.  I spent the balance of the afternoon and evening rocking back and forth in my truck and listening to the wind blow.

 Saturday morning I got underway and as I neared Craik, SK there was still a few wrecks on the road from the previous day.  There was very little snow in this area but the wind damage was obvious everywhere you looked.  This trailing trailer from an LCV was lying along the shoulder on my side of the road.  Apparently just blown over.  I didn't see any indication that the lead trailer and the tractor had gone off the road.  No skid marks or torn up sod in the ditch.  Looks like the lighter trailer just blew over and broke away.

This semi on the other side of the road looked to have met the same fate.  No skid marks or torn up sod and it appears from the position it was simply blown over.  What a lousy ride huh?

You can see from these two pictures the nice blue sky.  Looks like a nice day our there doesn't it.  Well the header on my blog (which I'll leave up until at least the next post) was what it looked like when I got a little further up the road to Kenaston.  The wind was still going pretty good too but nothing like the day before.

On reaching Saskatoon I met up with a couple of our drivers that were heading south and had come out of Edmonton the day before.  They reported that the road "sucked" just ahead of me from The Battlefords through to Lloydminster.  So I decided Saskatoon was a good spot to take the time to shower and get cleaned up then have a meal.  Apparently the plows and salt shakers were out and working hard.  The temperature was up so I hoped that in 2 or 3 hours conditions would change.  Luckily I guessed right and the remainder of my trip was fairly uneventful.  A few sections of heavy drifting snow and some deep slush but nothing longer than the length of a football field.

I made out pretty well in this years spring storm.  Let's hope there is not more than one this year.