SASKATOON – After one of the coldest winters on record, Saskatoon has managed to climb out of the deep freeze with no signs of turning back.
This year’s major spring melt is happening over a month earlier than 2013, when it wasn’t until the end of April that the snowpack really started to slip away.
The melt will be kicking off Wednesday across Saskatchewan, which may be a cause for concern for many in the province.
Typically, ideal melting conditions are slow with temperatures sitting near or just above the freezing mark; however, it appears a less than ideal setup is in the works this season.
An area of low pressure moving into the southern Northwest Territories will pull in the heat across most of Saskatchewan Wednesday, with strong winds along the surface mixing even warmer air from the mid-levels of the atmosphere, pushing temperatures higher than expected.
Unseasonably warm temperatures into the mid-single digits on the positive side of the scale, will significantly accelerate melting across the city.
It’s not just Saskatoon that’ll be feeling the heat, most of Saskatchewan will soar into the upper single digits and even some cracking into double digits throughout Wednesday.
Daytime highs as far north as Buffalo Narrows may reach plus 8 and even higher in Leader with a forecasted high of plus 12 Wednesday afternoon.
Saskatoon is expected to top out near plus 5, which would make Wednesday the second warmest day of 2014. The warmest was Jan. 15 when the mercury skyrocketed to plus 8.
The main reason why this warm day really is cause for concern as it is proceeded and preceded by days with temperatures a few degrees above freezing, and with current snow packs of around 16 centimetres in Saskatoon, there is a lot of snow to be melted, potentially causing some serious havoc.
The warmer temperatures hovering in the minus and plus single digits are expected to stick around into the foreseeable future, so it appears that spring has sprung in Saskatoon.
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