Regina Road Conditions and Driving Weather

Closures and road work are not yet imported for Saskatchewan; Highway Hotline carries them. No weather warnings from Environment and Climate Change Canada are in force as of Sep 20, 2026 5:48 AM CST.

Routes out of Regina

The four ways out of the city that matter in winter, with the distance and the clear-road time measured over openrouteservice, and what each one does to you when the weather turns.

• West on Highway 1 to Moose Jaw and Swift Current — 247 km, about 2 h 45 min on a clear road. The 70 km to Moose Jaw through Belle Plaine are the most-closed stretch of the Trans-Canada in the province: flat, treeless, and a ground blizzard on any windy day with snow on the fields. Conditions along the whole of Highway 1.
• North on Highway 11 to Saskatoon — 259 km, about 2 h 50 min on a clear road. Up out of the Qu'Appelle valley at Lumsden and across the plain: divided the whole way and closed with the Trans-Canada when the wind gets up. Conditions along the whole of Highway 11.
• East on Highway 1 to Moosomin, Brandon and Winnipeg — 581 km, about 6 h 50 min on a clear road. Nearly 600 km of Trans-Canada east across two provinces, with the clock going forward an hour at the Manitoba line and the wind the same on both sides. Conditions along the whole of Highway 1.
• South-east on Highways 6 and 39 to Weyburn and Estevan — 204 km, about 2 h 30 min on a clear road. The road to the oilfield and the North Dakota line at North Portal: two lanes, heavy trucks, and drifting snow across the open fields around Weyburn.

What makes winter driving hard in Regina

The wind. Regina International records 19 days a year of blowing snow on Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981–2010 normals — more than any other station on this site — because the city sits in the middle of a plain with nothing on it to slow a west wind. The snow is not deep, 100 cm a year, but it never melts between December and March and it moves: a ground blizzard on Highway 1 to Moose Jaw or Highway 11 to Saskatoon takes the visibility to nothing under a clear sky, and the Highway Hotline closed both for exactly that on 6 February 2025.

The cold holds it there. January averages −14.7 °C with a mean overnight low of −20.1 °C and 26 days that never rise above freezing; salt is useless, the streets are sand on packed snow, and the City plows its residential roads only after 15 cm in a single storm.

Ring Road and the Trans-Canada bypass are the Ministry of Highways' and appear on the Highway Hotline; the City of Regina's categories cover Victoria Avenue, Albert Street and the streets.

Snow and ice by month in Regina

Thirty-year normals from Environment and Climate Change Canada's station at Regina International Airport, 4 km from the city centre. Averages for 1981–2010; a normal month, not this month.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010, station REGINA INT'L A (4016560), 578 m, through the MSC GeoMet API.

Municipal snow clearing in Regina

The City of Regina plows by category. Category 1 — 159 km of major arterial roads and designated hospital routes — is plowed within 24 hours of a snowfall; Category 2, 214 km of minor arterials, major collectors, transit routes, bike lanes and downtown, within 36; Category 3, 163 km of collector and residential roads, within 48; Category 4, gravel roads, within 60. Category 5 — the remaining 528 km of residential roads — is plowed only after a minimum of 15 cm in a single event, when weather and time permit. Ring Road is the Province's.

Parking bans

Snow routes are declared when 5 cm of snow has fallen in a single event, announced by 3 pm the day before: a 24-hour parking ban along the designated routes, and a $120 ticket for a vehicle that stays. Residents are told through the Sweep&Plow app, email, phone and the City's social channels.

The current plan, the map of routes and any ban in force are on regina.ca, plowing, snow and ice control ↗, which is where this section was read.

Provincial rules that apply in Regina

Saskatchewan has no winter tire law and no rule about studded tires: the Vehicle Equipment Regulations set tread depth and inflation and say nothing about the season, and SGI has said a winter tire law is not being considered. What the province does is define the words: on the Highway Hotline "travel not recommended" means visibility under 250 metres or a road that could become impassable, and it is the closest thing to a rule a prairie winter has.

The full rule, with its sources, is on the Saskatchewan page. What is closed right now is on Highway Hotline ↗.

Related roads

Regina Winter Driving FAQ

Why does Regina get so much blowing snow?

Geography: the city sits on a flat, open plain with no trees or hills to break a west wind, and Regina International averages 19 blowing-snow days a year on the 1981–2010 normals — the most of any station on this site. The snow that fell in December is still there in February, and every windy day lifts it across the highways.

When are Regina's residential streets plowed?

Only after 15 cm of snow in a single event, when weather and time permit — they are Category 5 of the City's plan. Categories 1 to 3, the arterials, hospital routes, collectors and transit routes, are plowed within 24, 36 and 48 hours of a snowfall.

What is a snow route in Regina?

A designated route where parking is banned for 24 hours after the City declares it, which it does when 5 cm of snow has fallen in one event, announced by 3 pm the day before. A vehicle left on a snow route during the ban is ticketed $120.

Do I need winter tires in Regina?

Not by law: Saskatchewan has no winter tire requirement and studded tires are legal all year. With January averaging −14.7 °C and the streets packed snow from December to March, about half the province's drivers fit them anyway.

How long is Regina to Moose Jaw or Saskatoon in winter?

Moose Jaw is about 80 km and an hour, Saskatoon about 260 km and 2 h 50 min, on a clear road as openrouteservice measures them. Both roads close for zero visibility in blowing snow, and on those days the Highway Hotline's travel-not-recommended and the RCMP's advice to wait are the answer.