This winter has not been a very challenging one for SaskPower across the province. Weather has been cooperative, there hasn't been frost on the lines that could cause power outages, and in general, they have been able to keep business rolling as usual.

Now with winds hitting as high as 110km expected to hit a large portion of the province, this coming storm presents the first real challenge of the winter for SaskPower. A spokesperson for SaskPower Scott McGregor says there are a few specific preparations that they need to make when weather like this is expected to come through.

"We're closely monitoring the weather system. That's going to be rolling into Saskatchewan today and tonight and tomorrow. It does come with very high winds, and so what we're making sure is that we have the right amount of resources to respond to any damage that might come of those winds. We don't anticipate any significant outages from the storm, but we are prepared regardless. We have power line technicians on standby and we have other mechanisms to make sure that any damages are taken care of as soon as we can."

The storm front that is expected to come through the area has knocked out the power in some of the places it hit in Alberta such as Lethbridge, but there is less risk of that happening here. Thanks to the weather that Saskatchewan has seen this year, a lack of frost on the lines has made it easy for SaskPower with significantly fewer outages than they are normally accustomed to.

"It's been really, really good for mitigating any frost hanging on the lines. When it gets on there, it melts the second the sun comes out. It's been a really nice winter for us."

If the power does go out in your area, be patient. In some weather repairs to a downed powerline or whatever the issue may be can be quick and easy, but with wind it provides its own risk which means it may not be safe to start work on restoring power the moment it goes out.

"One of the big things to note is that there are certain types of repairs that just are unsafe to do when the winds are that high. If the repair is required for a technician to go up in a bucket, it's not going to be safe to do so with winds blowing at 100 kilometers an hour, so those repairs are going to have to wait."

If the power goes out in your area or you happen to be driving by a damaged powerline or any other form of SaskPower infrastructure, be sure to report it. SaskPower keeps their information on their Facebook and Twitter pages updated frequently to keep you informed of how long you may have to wait for the power to come back, and all of those can be used to report problems with power.

"If any of your if your listeners or readers see any downed power lines, if they see any damaged infrastructure like the substation or anything like that, stay clear of it. Give us a call at 310-2220. We'll send a technician out as soon as we can and make the area safe."