Watch above: There was rain, there was snow, and there was frost – not unusual for the May long weekend. What was unusual though was how far below zero the mercury fell … making it one for the record books and the damage is still unknown. Wendy Winiewski reports.
SASKATOON – It’s a Victoria Day for the record books. Environment Canada says some temperatures reached new lows on the May long weekend in Saskatchewan.
An arctic ridge of high pressure settled over southern areas of the province Sunday evening, despite sunshine and blue skies on Monday afternoon.
“The low pressure system that moved out and affected southeast Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba, it moved out of the way but it brought the arctic air down with it so most areas in southern Saskatchewan were affected with temperatures below zero,” said Justin Hobson, Environment Canada meteorologist.
“[In Saskatoon] temperatures dropped below zero just after midnight and were below zero until 5 or 6 a.m.”
Saskatoon reached a new low of -5.7 on Monday with the old record being set in 1949 at -5°C.
At least two other records were broken in the province.
A new record low temperature was set in North Battleford at -4.5. The previous low point was set in 1895 at -3.3.
Swift Current also broke a record at -5.9, beating out -5.6 which was set in 1923.
READ MORE: ‘So this one time in Canada, I got frostbite’: Australian’s photos of frostbite go viral
On Monday afternoon, Environment Canada issued a frost advisory for the southern half of Saskatchewan. Temperatures could drop below zero overnight.
These weather advisories are issued during the growing season when temperatures could cause potential damage and destruction to plants and crops.
Farmer started seeding weeks ago with more than one-third of the 2015 crop in the ground, according to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture last week.
“Anything below zero is very damaging,” said Hobson.
Environment Canada says temperatures are expected to return to normal by mid-week.
Anyone with photos of extreme weather can email them to saskatoon@globalnews.ca.
For weather on the go download the Global News Skytracker weather app for iPhone, iPad or Android.
Wendy Winiewski contributed to this story
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