CHILL OUT THIS MONTH
It’s colder than average
Although Saskatoon is expected to get some respite from cold temperatures on Saturday, the rest of the month is expected to remain colder than average, says Environment Canada meteorologist Dan Kulak.
“If you’re a taxi cab driver you’re probably saying, ‘Great, it’s going to stay cold for a while.’ If you’re anyone else, you might say, ‘Oh darn, where’s Mexico?’ ”
Kulak said average temperatures for this time of year generally hover around -7 C. Although it won’t remain quite as cold as the recent highs in the -25 C range, the rest of February is likely to bring temperatures in the minus teens, he said.
He noted February tends to be a much drier month on average for Saskatchewan, although Environment Canada currently expects a possible snowfall event in southern Saskatchewan in the next week to 10 days.
“Realistically, we don’t see any significant long-term breaks from that cold weather for at least the next week and perhaps beyond,” Kulak said.
“We don’t see any big winter storms in Saskatchewan for the next seven days at least ... just remaining near or below normal temperatures — that’s the big key word, I think.”
Kulak said people shouldn’t expect the end of February to bring any significant springtime weather to Saskatchewan, since March brings an end to the drier weather and generally ushers in more significant snowfalls throughout what many people consider to be the springtime months.
“It’s the realization that it is still winter ... and even if you do get some warmer spots in the next few weeks — which we are not looking at, at least in the next one week — you gotta think about how March is actually not that far away and March is actually the beginning of the spring storm season,” he said.
“This is the middle of winter; this is not getting close to the end of the winter.”