A stretch of warm winter weather has enveloped southern Saskatchewan.
On Tuesday, temperatures reached 4.7C in Regina, only a few degrees shy of the record of 6.1C set back in 1969.
Many in Regina were taking advantage of the mild spell, but it’s not welcome to everyone.
The Regina Ski Club maintains five trails within the city and the White Butte Ski Trails. Currently, only their Kinsmen Park trail is in skiable condition.
“We’re surviving here because of a lot of hard work on the main groomer’s part,” Regina Ski Club Director of Nordic Facilities Gregg Brewster said. “The other ones aren’t faring so well. There’s a bit of a different situation at each one, but they’re not as well-groomed as this one here is.”
The ski club’s trail groomer is bringing in snow to lay a base for the ski trail and cover the bare patches of grass.
“This is kind of our last resort and our first resort when conditions are like this,” Brewster said.
The freeze-thaw cycle could also be a recipe for potholes and water main breaks down the road. City officials say the temperatures have helped them save in snow removal, but crews are still busy with sanding.
“Our crews have been pretty vigilant in the ice patrol, in going around and making sure our intersections are sanded,” City of Regina Director of Roadways and Transportation Norman Kyle said. “We’re probably using a little bit more salt right now than we normally would, but still well within what we would put down for this time of year.”
The city also maintains 59 outdoor skating rinks at 41 locations. The rinks were originally set to open December 18, but due to the warm temperatures that date has been pushed back. Officials say they now hope to have the rinks open before Christmas, depending on the weather.
Experts say a warm patch of weather in mid-December is nothing new.
“This is not an uncommon weather system, but it’s occurring now in a warmer world,” Dave Sauchyn, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Regina, said. “Most of the global warming is from the oceans (which have) warmed up quite a bit, and our winds are from the west, a lot of the weather in Saskatchewan comes from over the Pacific Ocean and it’s coming from a warmer ocean.”
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The U of R professor also says there’s a weak La Nina right now, which would normally bring colder temperatures.
“This is supposed to be a colder winter according to natural conditions, but they’re occurring in a climate that has been changed by human activity,” Sauchyn said.
Sauchyn added that winters in Saskatchewan aren’t seeing the cold temperatures they used to.
“It’s not so much that we get higher temperatures, it’s that our lower temperatures are rising so we’re getting a lot less cold. For example, I just checked and the average low temperature for this time of year is -18C; you’d get up in the morning and expect it to be -18C. We haven’t had much of that this year,” he said.
“Probably the strongest indication of global warming in Saskatchewan is that it’s getting much less cold, so the warming of our winters and especially the low temperatures (are rising),” Sauchyn added. “We brag about surviving -35C, but really, how often does it get below -35C? Typically, in the last 10 or 20 years, we would get -30 a few times a winter. We used to get it 20 or 30 times a winter.”
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