The first major storm of winter finally hit southeast Saskatchewan in late January.

And it originated from the most unlikely of areas.

California.

The storm that dumped snow and freezing drizzle onto our region, and spawned high winds, blowing snow and a blizzard, came to us from the same state that is known for sun, surf, a year-round golf season and long, relaxing walks on the beach.

Most Californians didn’t get snow and wind. They received heavy rains for several days, creating floods and forcing surfers to make other arrangements. And in higher elevations, it did result in snow in California, plus Arizona and New Mexico.

Snow in New Mexico? Who knew?

Then the storm trekked through several mid-west states before resting comfortably over southeast Saskatchewan for a couple of days, much to the delight of children and snowmobile users, who had seen the snow base slowly melt away due to above-average temperatures earlier this month.

Highway travelers weren’t as happy to see the snow.

A glimpse of a Saskatchewan highway conditions map on January 24 showed plenty of red lines, indicating highways that were closed. The southwest and south-central areas had a lot of those red lines. Getting stranded in Chaplin or Mortlach wouldn’t be my idea of a good time, but I’m sure it happened to some.

I was one of those who tempted fate and braved the roads. Fortunately, I arrived at my destination before the storm hit on January 22, and I managed to be on the roads during a lull on January 24, when blowing snow, and a little reduced visibility, proved to be the only challenges facing motorists.

No white-knuckle driving. No panic attacks. No desperate calls for road-side assistance. No barricades indicating a closed highway. No ice-covered roads, 90 kilometre per hour winds or three-foot snow drifts to contend with.

Those were a part of my driving experiences in 2009. Hopefully they won’t be repeated in 2010.

For those expecting me to relate a story about how I foolishly braved the roads and slammed my car into a ditch, well, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Weyburn actually came out of the storm in pretty good shape. Only a few centimetres of snow. Not much in the way of freezing rain. Estevan had a little more snow, and a blizzard warning that lasted about 24 hours.

So we survived the first major storm of 2010. Hopefully it will be one of the few major storms of 2010.

But you can be certain that if there are more storms in the offing, that they will originate in more traditional areas, like Colorado, or Alberta, and other regions where winter storms come from, and not California.