Saskatoon

It was a record-breaking Thursday morning in a number of Saskatchewan communities due to an arctic ridge of high pressure.

People are advised to stay off the roads as city crews try to clear priority streets. Biggest snow event since the blizzard of 2007.

Tammi Hanowskirsquo's yard is carpeted in forest tent caterpillars.

Hordes of tent caterpillars have covered Tammi Hanowski's home south of Saskatoon and have crawled up the walls and made their way into her pool.

Blizzard conditions paralyzed Saskatoon and many other communities Wednesday as a fierce storm scoured the central part of the province, closing roads, airports and schools.

A wildlife pathologist in Saskatoon says his lab is testing several skunks and fox kits showing neurological signs that could be caused by avian flu. The transmission to mammals is not a surprise to Bollinger, who said cases have been showing up in the United States. There are other viral diseases - such as distemper and rabies - that cause similar symptoms in these species.

The flu now affecting birds in Saskatchewan is a severe strain of influenza that has mingled genes from Eurasia and North America, according to Dr. Trent Bollinger, a professor at Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and a pathologist. Bollinger said that the severity of the disease, which he says is the H5N1 strain, depends on the species.