Saskatchewan broke 10 daily high temperature records on Boxing Day

Saskatchewan's warm Boxing Day temperatures broke 10 daily records and tied one other, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). 

The government agency released a report Wednesday morning highlighting the places across the province that broke records on Tuesday, with temperatures as high as 11 C. 

The Saskatoon area experienced a new record for that date of 6.2 C, breaking the previous record of 4.4 C set in 1928. 

The Leader area experienced the highest daily temperature in the province on Tuesday with 11 C, breaking the previous record of 9.5 C set in 1980. 

The broken records come as the province is experiencing an unusually dry and warm fall season. The lack of precipitation has some farmers worried about crops for the upcoming growing season. 

CBC Saskatchewan's weather specialist, Ethan Williams, said the warmth and dryness is due to the El Niño weather pattern. Williams said this pattern is likely to continue into the new year.

"What we've seen so far may very well be the case for the first few months of 2024. Environment Canada says there's a 60 to 70 per cent chance of warmer than normal temperatures through the month of February at this point," he said. 

Looking ahead, Williams said there's a chance next winter's temperatures will begin to look more familiar across the province.

"The NOAA, a forecasting agency in the U.S., says Pacific Ocean temperatures near the equator are starting to return to normal now, so there's a pretty good chance that El Niño will be diminishing from April to June," he said. "So there is a chance that we won't have to worry about El Niño's impacts next winter." 

Here's the full list of record-breaking temperatures on Dec. 26 in Saskatchewan (previous records in brackets).

• Kindersley area: 7.6 C (5.5 C in 2011).
• Leader area: 11 C (9.5 C in 1980).
• Lucky Lake area: 8.4 C (8.0 C in 1980)
• Maple Creek area: Tied record of 10.7 C originally set in 1994.
• Moose Jaw area:  9.3 C (7.1 C in 1994).
• Rockglen area: 7.4 C (5.6 C in 1976).
• Rosetown area: 7.8 C (5.6 C in 1997).
• Saskatoon area: 6.2 C (4.4 C in 1928).
• Spiritwood area: 7.3 C (6.1 C in 1999).
• Uranium City area: -3.2 C (-3.3 C in 2005).
• Wynyard area: 8.6 C (6.4 C in 2005).