Four weather records fall in Sask. as cold snap lingers

The pre-Christmas cold snap is officially record-breaking in Saskatchewan.

Environment Canada says four communities set new record low temperatures on Tuesday.

• Eastend -33.9 C – previous record -36.1 C set in 1921
• Kindersley -38.9 C – previous record -38.5 C set in 1990
• Leader -38.2 C – previous record -37.5 C set in 1990
• Lucky Lake -35.7 C – previous record -32.2 C set in 2000

It was very cold in Regina and Saskatoon, but neither city came close to breaking a record.

Saskatoon hit a low of -38.2 C Tuesday night. The record for that day is -41.9 C. In Regina, it got down to a low of -34.3 C. The record is -41.7 C.

For people hoping the weather will improve by Christmas Eve, Environment Canada Meteorologist Robyn Dyck says the cold doesn’t want to leave the area quite yet.

“I keep saying it’s going to warm up, but (the arctic ridge) is being quite persistent,” she said. “Things aren’t progressing as quickly as we’d like.”

Temperatures are now expected to improve on Boxing Day when Regina expects a high of -8 C and Saskatoon has a forecast high of -10 C.

Dyck said temperatures will remain in the extreme range again overnight.

“Tonight, we probably will have some more extreme cold warnings issued again,” she said. “I do anticipate it’ll be slightly warmer than it was last night, but it will still be cold.”

A high of -23 C is projected for Saskatoon on Wednesday, while a high of -26 C is expected in Regina.

Extreme cold warnings remained in place across southern Saskatchewan on Wednesday morning.