Winter’s grip expected to ease by weekend
If it feels like winter’s deep freeze has lasted longer than usual, you’re right. But take heart: Saskatoon will likely hit a spring benchmark this week, according to Environment Canada.
City temperatures have fallen below zero every night since Oct. 21, but the forecast predicts the mercury will drop only to 1 C on Friday, meteorologist John Paul Cragg said.
“It is possible this weekend we could see a big bump up in temperatures with (daytime) temperatures getting close to the double digits for once,” he said.
“It’s always a dangerous thing here in Saskatchewan to make that guess, but yes, the models are showing that the worst is behind us, that winter may finally be easing its grip.”
But before Friday, there may be a little bit more snow Tuesday.
Saskatoon usually has about 200 days a year when the temperature falls below zero at some point in 24 hours, but those days are not all consecutive. If it stays above zero Friday night, that will be the first time it happened in 180 days.
That stretch is not so unusual. In 2013-14, the thermometer fell below zero every night from Oct 20 to April 21.
Besides the lingering chill, April has outdone itself with the severity of the cold.
The first week of April this year was the coldest first week of April ever recorded in Saskatoon, Cragg said.
On April 6-7, the temperature with the wind chill fell below -30 C, “and that’s pretty unheard of,” he said.
On average, temperatures drop below -30 C on 14.3 days per year. This winter, there were 19 such days.
While the misery seems unrelenting, it was worse in the past. Saskatoon hasn’t had a -40 C day since 2009. In some past years, the mercury fell that far 13 times.
The record length for such a cold spell was set in January 1950, when Saskatoon endured 13 days when temperatures fell below -40 C.
While there is really no way to accurately predict how much rain will come this spring, general forecasts are for above average amounts, Cragg said.
City crews are already working to address the dusty season that follows the snow melt in Saskatoon, said Brandon Harris, director of roadways.
Crews began sweeping up the traction sand on April 9 and have already made first passes on Warman Road, Attridge Drive, downtown and on 22nd Street West.
City staff will clean the main thoroughfares first, and by the second week of May, will turn their attention to residential streets. The whole city should be swept and scrubbed by the third week of June, Harris said, noting Saskatoon has about 4,000 kilometres of roadway.