(file photo/CKOM News Staff)

By CKOM News Staff

Extreme cold warnings still in place, but warming trend on the horizon

Dec 20, 2022 | 11:46 AM

David Phillips had some good news for Saskatchewan residents Tuesday, but it won’t actually happen for a few days.

“I looked at the (weather) map for January and it’s showing red, red, red and yellows and oranges, and that means warmer than normal (temperatures) right across the country,” Environment Canada’s senior climatologist told the Greg Morgan Morning Show. “It’s going to actually begin sometime between Christmas and New Year’s.

“Temperatures are going to be milder, so the worst part of winter may very well be what you’re dealing with this week.”

Saskatchewan was once again in the deep freeze Tuesday, with extreme cold warnings covering the southern part of the province.

Wind chills in some areas reached -53 C overnight and extremely cold wind chill values in the -40 C range were expected to continue through the day.

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“We have an arctic ridge of high pressure that has been sitting over the province for the last few days and we’re expecting it won’t be moving much over the next few days,” Environment Canada meteorologist Robyn Dyck said.

“Right now, we do have extreme cold warnings out for much of the southern tier of the province.”

There is an extreme cold warning in effect for the Battlefords-Unity-Maidstone-St. Walburg areas of the province with lows of -40 to -50 C with wind chill. The extreme cold is expected to last until the weekend. The province advises to cover up before going outdoors as frostbite can develop within minutes of exposure.

According to Dyck, the normal high for this time of year in Saskatoon is -9 C and the normal low is -19 C. In Regina, the normal high is -10 C and the normal low is -21 C.

“This is Siberian Express air,” Phillips said. “It has come over the poles. It has filled every nook and cranny. We’re talking about temperatures that are, for daytime temperatures, the coldest you’ve really had this winter.

“But these are brutally cold. These are like 13 to 17 degrees colder than normal. It should be -9 for the afternoon in Regina, not -24. C’mon!”

Extreme cold warnings are issued in the southern part of the province when wind chill values reach -40 C for two hours. Dyck said the warnings likely would be removed during the day in some areas — including Regina and Saskatoon — but it will remain cold.

“That doesn’t expect to see much change for much of this week,” she said. “Things look to warm up on the weekend just in time for some Christmas presents, so we should see some warming up as we get into Saturday and Sunday (as we get) back to some seasonal temperatures.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Shane Clausing