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The people in charge of keeping weather data have been busy lately, as Saskatchewan marked its fifth consecutive day of record-breaking temperatures.
Ten warm-weather records were broken on Thursday, including the record for Maple Creek, which is often the warmest spot in the province.
The Cypress Hills region was the hottest place in the province once again, hitting nearly 16 C.
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“You’re seeing not parkas and balaclavas, but T-shirts and golf hats. I mean, what a difference,” Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told the 650 CKOM Morning Show.
Phillips said seeing the province go from a record deep freeze to a record thaw in just a few weeks had him shaking his head in disbelief.
Here are the areas where records fell Thursday:
- Assiniboia: 13.6 C (previous record was 13 C set in 1992)
- Elbow 9.3 C (previous record was 8 C set in 199)
- Lucky Lake 12.1 C (previous record was 7.4 C set in 2020)
- Maple Creek 15.8 C (previous record was 14.4 C set in 2020)
- Meadow Lake 8.4 C (previous record was 6.6 C set in 1991)
- Melfort 5.4 C (previous record was 5 C set in 1935)
- Moose Jaw 14.3 C (previous record was 13.9 C set in 1931)
- Rockglen 11.9 C (previous record was 6.4 C set in 2020)
- Saskatoon 8 C (previous record was 7.8 C set in 1931)
- Uranium City 4.3 C (previous record was 3.6 C set in 1993
Phillips said that while February saw an average of three degrees warmer than January, it’s still a winter month which usually brings winter conditions.
“I wouldn’t say the back of winter is broken, but it’s hard for me to see a return of those very cold temperatures,” the climatologist said.
“There’s very little snow on the ground. When there’s snow on the ground, the first dibs on that warm air is to melt the snow. Well, if there’s no snow to melt, or very little, then there’s a lot more heat left over to warm the air.”
Phillips noted that the province is also gaining about three and a half minutes of sunlight with each passing day.
The weather agency said above-normal temperatures are expected to continue through the weekend before things cool down next week.
– With files from 650 CKOM’s Brent Bosker.
