Residents chill out as cold snap set to end
Saskatoon is in the midst of a historic cold snap that hasn’t been seen in more than 80 years, but people throughout the city continue to fight the freeze.
Environment Canada indicates so far this month, temperatures have remained below -20 C for 11 days — the longest February cold snap since 1939, when the city recorded 13 days when the mercury did not climb above -20 C. Some say it isn’t that bad. “Once you get out there, it’s usually nicer than you expect it to be,” said Edith Machattie, a cross-country skier who hits the trails four times a week, no matter the weather. Something unique happens when the temperatures fall this low, she said.
“Usually when it’s this cold, there’s not that many people out there. So you look around a little bit more and it’s just beautiful.
There’s snow and frost all over the trees, the snow is really crunchy-sounding when it’s this cold ... it feels a little more surreal.”
The high for the month of February thus far was -22.5 C, compared to the 30-year-average high of -7.2 C. This month’s coldest moment so far was -42.5 C on the morning of Feb. 6.
For vulnerable people, can be dangerous or even deadly. Some who regularly face the frigid air, like Axl Lee Petit, say they “don’t really mind it as long as you’re dressed, bundled up and warm.”
Petit said he’ll be staying at the Salvation Army shelter for another week before having to find his own place, and he has a few ways to keep warm on the freezing streets of Saskatoon.
“Keep in motion,” he said, noting he regularly bikes as a source of warmth. “Don’t get too warm because you’ll start to sweat, and make sure you keep an extra pack of socks on you.”
Coping in the cold is “nothing unusual” for people he’s been speaking with, he said. If the Salvation Army wasn’t an option, he’d looks to friends or family for shelter.
“I’d probably bike around, see who’s all around — family and friends — stay for a night or a day. It’s almost spring anyways in a couple of months, so it’ll be fine.”
Ryley Walters, who has been at the shelter for six months while on day parole, said the Salvation Army has helped him stay warm and sheltered in his own space. For men using the shelter’s dropin service, it can be a challenge, he said.
“If you’re living downstairs in the hostel, it gets a little hectic sometimes, you know — a lot of stuff gets stolen from people and there’s a lot of riff-raff going on, but other than that, it’s good,” he said.
“If you can actually get a bed and find bed space, it’s a really good opportunity for some guys, but we do have to bear the cold once in a while.”
On Thursday morning, the thermometer fell to a low of -34 C, feeling like -44 C with the wind chill, but that didn’t slow down a group of students participating in a winter triathlon at the Clare Downey Speed Skating Oval.
“We choose to live in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon and it’s easy for us to get outdoors when we’re up at the cabin or on a ski hill, but in the city we have to get outside as well,” said Kirsten Routledge, a west coast transplant whose son was participating in the triathlon. “So it’s good to teach the kids to gear up properly and get outside.”
She herself hasn’t embraced the cold weather “with such positivity,” she said.
“Although I would like my son to learn the skills of being an outdoor prairie person, I find it a little more challenging.”
In the end, the winter weather isn’t all bad, she added.
“I actually would take a cold, sunny day over a dreary, rainy day in Vancouver.”
For those growing tired of the cold, Terri Lang, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, said relief isn’t that far off: a weather system expected to hit Saskatoon today should bring cloudy conditions — which can act like a blanket and retain heat.
“This snap is over,” Lang said. However, she added that if the city does not warm up “substantially,” February 2019 could become one of the coldest on record.
Don’t get too warm because you’ll start to sweat, and make sure you keep an extra pack of socks on you.