While the leaves begin to turn leading into the first day of fall, the warm weather should stick around for the rest of the month. (submitted photo/Kenton De Jong)/

By Trevor Redden

Extended Summer

End of September to be unseasonably warm

Sep 18, 2020 | 1:17 PM

It’s the last weekend of summer, but thankfully that doesn’t mean the end of summer-like temperatures in northern Saskatchewan.

The weekend will be punctuated by what looks to be a beautiful Saturday, with the high expected to reach 28 C in North Battleford, and 26 C in Prince Albert. Some cool, rainy weather will roll in on Sunday but it should be a short stay, with warmer weather back in time for the official first day of fall on Tuesday.

Alysa Pederson, meteorologist with Environment Canada, explained what is causing these swings.

“It’s the typical change of the season. We’re getting the colder air masses from the arctic that have developed, mixing with the warm air from the States. When we get that mixing of air, we get really big systems that form,” Pederson said.

A low pressure system hitting the BC coast is currently pulling warm air up into the region, but that system will reach the prairies by Sunday, bringing with it cooler temperatures and some rain. However, that will give way for more sunshine and warmth.

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“Our fall outlook for the rest of September is actually indicating for much of the prairies to be above normal conditions,” Pederson explained, noting that seasonal averages are around 15 C, so we can expect temperatures closer to 20 C and even up to 25 C in the next 10 to 15 days.

“We look to end out September pretty nice.”

Over the span of just three days, we’ll be seeing a swing of more than 30 degrees. Early Wednesday morning, Environment Canada registered a low temperature of -7.1 C at the Prince Albert weather station. On Saturday, the forecasted high will be over 34 C higher than that.

Aside from Sunday’s cool, rainy weather, the forecast looks promising for farmers in the region who look to make progress on harvest. This week’s crop report states that harvest is less than 35 per cent complete across the northern region, well behind the provincial average of 62 per cent.

Those looking to squeeze all they can out of summer should get plenty of opportunity in the days ahead.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden