By Glenn Hicks

Near record high temperatures predicted for weekend

Dec 8, 2017 | 1:00 PM

The same weather system that’s fanning wildfires in California is giving our region some near record temperatures with the highs peaking around 15 degrees above the average.

A huge high pressure system stretching from southern California to western Canada will bring highs to 5 C for Prince Albert come Sunday. It was -21 C on the same day last year.

“For western Canada we’re having an almost weather-free zone,” David Phillips said, senior climatologist with Environment Canada. “We’re seeing lots of sunshine and westerly air, not the northerly arctic air, that’s sort of basking across the prairies.”

Temperatures this time of year are supposed to be -10 C on average during the day and -20 C at night. For much of the next seven days we’ll see daytime highs in plus territory and night time lows in single negative digits. The all-time record high for Dec.10. is 6.1 C.

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The week of warmth is connected to the wild and dangerous events underway in the U.S.

“The same weather that’s bringing a lot of misery because of the California wildfires and causing the Santa Ana winds to blow from the desert to the coast with hurricane strength, is creating this weather-free zone here in western Canada,” Phillips said.

From a psychological perspective these warm spells are a boost for most people, according to Phillips.

“When you kind of get this little bit of a pause, a ‘nature’s gift’ at this time of year, then I think it tends to make us feel the winter is shorter,” he said. “If you have flesh-freezing temperatures from Thanksgiving until Easter then you feel it’s been a long hoary season, but breaking it up like this helps.”

Phillips figured we should be enjoying this and have an extra spring in our step.

“The fact that Prince Albert is going to be warmer than Toronto this weekend, come on. I tell Torontonians ‘go west.’”

Warm weather may delay East Hill Community Club opening

The wave of warm weather, according to the city’s recreation manager Derek Blais, may cause some issues for a few ice surfaces.

If the forecast holds true, Blais made note the rising mercury will most likely delay the opening of the East Hill Community Club, which was scheduled to open early next week.

As well, as community clubs operate with natural ice, Blais said, “we will have to monitor that throughout the weekend” and “if the ice does get to a point where they might be wrecking it then we will look at cancelling or rescheduling the ice time.” 

He had not heard of any cancellations as of Friday afternoon. 

In regards to outdoor rinks, Blais said it is very much a “wait and see” situation and that if the ice was being damaged or if the temperature did rise above zero degrees for a prolonged period of time, “then we would look at closing them down until it does get cold again.”

Water and sewer pipes should also not be under threat from the rapid change in tempuratures, according to Operations Manager Mohammad Kraishan, as the frost penetration depth is still shallow and has not reached the pipes in the ground.

“Any fluctuations in temperature [will not] affect [water and sewer pipes],” Kraishan said in an email.

Roadways though may not fair as well, as prolonged warm weather could cause minor potholes to form, though Kraishan did not think this was highly likely with only a few days of warm weather forecasted.

— With files from Tyler Marr

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow