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Saskatchewan’s cold snap continued Friday morning with Environment Canada issuing extreme cold warnings covering the entire province.
With wind chills dipping well below -40 C in most areas, the weather service warned people of high risk of frostbite or even hypothermia from prolonged exposure to the elements.
Cold temperatures were expected to persist through the weekend.
Thursday saw a number of communities set new cold temperature records. Prince Albert hit -44.2 C, eclipsing a previous record set on Feb. 7, 1895 at -40.6 C.
Weyburn, Meadow Lake, Key Lake and Wynyard also set new cold temperature records Thursday.
Saskatoon area school buses cancelled, major water main break
The cold Friday morning prompted the cancellation of school bus service for the Saskatoon public and Catholic boards. The Prairie Spirit School Division also cancelled its bus services. All three boards indicated school buildings would still be open with classes still running.
All school buses serving Saskatoon Public Schools are CANCELLED today (Feb. 8) due to the extreme cold temperatures. This includes all Hertz, First Student and LP3 buses. The cancellation is in effect for the entire day.
All schools are open & classes are running as scheduled.— Saskatoon Public Schools (@StoonPubSchools) February 8, 2019
Bus service on Fri. Feb. 8 has been cancelled for elementary school students (pre-kindergarten – Grade 8) in Saskatoon, Warman and Martensville; and high school students from Martensville and Warman who get bused to BJM. Classes run as scheduled.
— Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools (@GSCSNews) February 8, 2019
Overnight cold also caused a significant water main break on McKercher Drive near Eighth Street. As of 8:30 a.m. the situation had forced the closure of north and southbound lanes on McKercher Drive from Eighth Street to Balfour Street.
MAJOR WATER MAIN BREAK: Mckercher Dr in front of 711. Mckercher closed N & SB from 8th St to Balfour St. Small car stalled out and stuck in 8 inches of ice. 8th St E & WB still open as well as Mckercher south of the intersection. Avoid area #yxe pic.twitter.com/5R8ol9dw1G
— CKOM Traffic (@ckomtraffic) February 8, 2019
Buses cancelled in Regina, Moose Jaw
Public and Catholic school divisions in Regina and Moose Jaw cancelled their bus services for students Friday, but schools remained open.
The Chinook School Division had buses running in Swift Current. However, some of Chinook’s rural routes were cancelled, with drivers contacting affected parents.
Record natural gas consumption overnight
The cold had many people in Saskatchewan reaching for their thermostats to crank up the heat and the result was a record amount of natural gas consumption across the province.
SaskEnergy said 1.50 PetaJoules of natural gas was used Saskatchewan-wide from 9 a.m. Feb. 6 to 9 a.m. Feb. 7. which ties a record set in December of 2017.
According to the Crown corporation, record-setting days are becoming more frequent due to customer growth.
