2020 will be remembered as a year like no other — the extreme weather we experienced here in Saskatchewan won’t be soon forgotten, either.
Although this December has been relatively warm, January 2020 was a different story.
Saskatchewan kicked off the beginning of the new year with a blast of cold temperatures. A system of cold arctic air anchored itself over the Prairies and by mid-month, both Saskatoon and Regina were seeing dangerously cold windchill temperatures nearing -50.
Both major cities saw their record low for the year on the same day — Jan. 15.
Regina recorded it’s coldest thermometer reading of the year of -35.2 and Saskatoon of -38.4 degrees C.
As spring began to melt away the snow, the ice break-up on the North Saskatchewan River caused water levels to rise.
In April, Prince Albert saw the river peak at 6.5 metres, rising above the downtown retaining wall. The public was asked to avoid the area near the rising floodwaters.
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On July 4, three tornadoes touched down in southwest Saskatchewan. There were no injuries but there was some damage to a home and farmyard.
Throughout the spring and summer months, the province saw varying amounts of rainfall. From May to August, the Battlefords saw 369 mm of rain, way above average.
Saskatoon and Kindersly experienced normal amounts of rainfall but Regina and Moose Jaw experienced a dryer summer with around 60 per cent of normal moisture falling.
Although Regina was dryer than normal, the number of days above 30 degrees wasn’t unusual.
Heading into fall, a La Nina winter was predicted for the Prairies.
That prediction came true on Nov. 9 when Saskatoon with hit with a record snowfall of 31 cm, shutting down the city. The civic election was delayed, flights were cancelled and snowmobiles were needed to drive health-care works to the hospital. It took several days for the city to dig itself out.
December has been relatively mild but don’t put those parkas away just yet, more cold weather could be heading towards Saskatchewan in 2021.
For the latest conditions and warnings, download the SkyTracker weather app.
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