Fall weather finally back in Saskatchewan but how long will it last?
After a 30-day stint below normal, temperatures finally warming up in the province
It has been a rough fall in southern and central Saskatchewan. With cold temperatures and early snowfall it has felt as though we took a step straight from summer into winter.
But now, as we head into the back half of October, things have started to turn around and it looks like the warmer weather is here to stay.
Swift end to summer in September
September started on the warm side, but temperatures quickly went down to the cold end of the spectrum and remained below seasonal until this week.
According to Environment Canada, temperatures were trending around 5 to 7 degrees below normal for much of southern and central Saskatchewan from mid-September until mid-October, which is significant for a 30-day period.
What's to blame for the cold fall?
The abrupt shift in temperatures can be blamed on Saskatchewan's jet stream, the upper air current in our atmosphere which separates cold polar air to the north and milder air to the south.
This fall we saw a strong and persistent anomaly in our jet stream with a large ridge in the west and a strong trough to the east thanks to an upper low pressure system in the area. That low pressure system set up strong northwesterly flow over Saskatchewan, pushing cooler air further south.
This week we are finally seeing a change to that dominant weather pattern. That ridge over Western Canada has shift westward which in turn is pulling milder air into the prairies.
Our forecast is showing close to, or above, normal temperatures for the province for much of this week and into the start of next week. For the rest of the month, most weather models are predicting near-normal temperatures for the southern half of the province heading toward October 30.
A break from the wet weather
Along with the influx of warmer weather, southern and central Saskatchewan will see a break from the wet weather.
The rest of the week and much of next week will see little to no precipitation as low pressure systems pass just to the east of Saskatchewan.
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