A WINTER OF CONTRASTS
Deep cold mixed with milder temperatures
Believe it or not — the average temperature in Regina in January was warmer than normal.
Even Environment Canada’s weather guru, David Phillips, was shocked when he crunched the numbers.
“The average temperature in January was -15.1, the normal is -16.2,” Phillips said. “It was actually a degree warmer than normal, but when you look at it you recognize that there were some melting temperatures.”
At the beginning of the month, there were days when the high reached 3.7 C and 3.5 C. Other days had highs of -1 C and -0.8 C.
“It was really a month of some relatively pleasant days, but (some were) absolutely brutally cold,” Phillips said.
He noted December was colder than January.
The average temperature in Regina this year from October to the end of January was -9.2 C. The normal for that time period is -7.5 C.
Last year was balmy in comparison.
“For that same four months, it was -3.5 C, so it was almost six degrees warmer last year,” Phillips said.
“Another way of looking at it is ... cold days, below -20. There were 39 this year and there were 16 last year.”
The month ended on the coldest day of the winter.
On Thursday, the daytime high of -27.2 C was reached in Regina at 3 p.m. The low was -35.3 C at 9 a.m. With the wind chill, it felt closer to -49.
“The average temperature was -31.3, so by all accounts, from the minimum temperature, it’s the coldest day of the year and from the mean temperature, it is the coldest day of the year,” Phillips said.
Even on brutally cold days, Derek Yau has no problems starting his vehicle.
Every day the 27-year-old Reginan hops on his bike and commutes from his Cathedral-area home to 240 Henderson Dr., where he is employed as an geotechnical engineering specialist with the Ministry of Highways.
Yau has been riding the same Kona cycle, which is a hybrid between a road and mountain bike, since he attended the University of Regina in 2006.
“I don’t have a car,” he said. “I was born and raised in Vancouver and I was lucky to have been exposed to really good transit and urban planning practices at an early age, so that has affected my choice to never own a car.”
During his 30-minute commute to work, there have been a few days this winter when Yau has wished for a car, especially on Thursday.
The day’s wind chill would result in exposed skin freezing in less than three minutes, Phillips said.
Yau said winter cycling is not as tough as most people think.
“People often get hung up on the fact that there’s ice on the road and it’s really cold, but as long as you’re dressed appropriately and you have the right gear, you should be just fine,” Yau said. “It’s great exercise and a good way to combat the winter blues.”
But he admits that when the mercury dips below -25 C, the mechanism in the rear hub of his bike sometimes freezes and it is harder to pedal.
To ensure he doesn’t freeze, he bundles up.
“I wear five layers on top and three layers on the bottom and I make sure that I have a hood and scarf, so honestly I feel quite warm,” Yau said. “The only problem (Thursday) was that the area around my eyes was exposed to the wind so it was getting really, really cold.
“My eyelids are quite tender, so I could have got a little bit of frostnip.”
SaskPower reported a new consumption record was set on Wednesday night.
As of 6:30 p.m., 3,379 megawatts of power had been used. That exceeded the previous peak for the month of 3,342 megawatts on Jan. 20.
No energy consumption records were broken between 9 a.m. on Wednesday to 9 a.m. on Thursday, said Vanessa Beaupre, SaskEnergy spokeswoman.
“We didn’t exceed the record from last January, however what SaskEnergy did experience was the highest residential load for this winter alone, so people were turning up the thermostat because it has been just so cold,” Beaupre said.
She said SaskEnergy is designed to operate on frigid winter days by drawing on gas from its 26 storage caverns around the province.
Phillips is predicting “almost a Saskatchewan chinook coming.” He expects people will be rejoicing on Saturday when the high hits -4 C.
“That’s five degrees warmer than normal,” Phillips said. “(Thursday) was 17 degrees colder than normal.”
Over the next two weeks, the senior climatologist predicts temperatures could be three to five degrees warmer than normal and he had an optimistic forecast for this summer.
“We’re not always right, but we need to hold onto this — we’re seeing the summer being warmer than normal,” Phillips said.