Oh no! La Nina to bring Saskatchewan 'old fashioned kind of winter'

Let's reflect on the winter that was.

It's not as if nature is going to punish you.- David Phillips

The strongest El Nino in 20 years pushed a lot of warm air into normally frigid cities like Saskatoon to make for a more manageable winter with less snow. Canada's senior climatologist David Phillips suggests the city normally has a dozen or so days when the temperature hits –30 C. There were only two such dreaded days this winter.

Now the bad news, La Nina, El Nino's bratty little sister is on the way.

Phillips told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning that while El Nino pushes warm water and winds Saskatchewan's way, La Nina does the opposite.

"It strips that warm water in the Pacific equatorial region way off over to Indonesia, and what comes up is the cooler water."

"But it's not as if nature is going to punish you and give you the winter from hell, because you've had a softer and open winter this past year."

Instead Phillips suggested, the La Nina may produce what will look like "more of a good old fashioned kind of winter."

La Nina can fuel weather disasters 

There is, of course, a serious side to La Nina. While it may bring much-needed rain to places like Ethiopia, Phillips said, it sometimes brings too much rain and flooding to some regions. La Nina can also generate more hurricanes in the North Atlantic.

Still, Phillips said, it feels a little too early to fret: "gosh I think we should enjoy the summer."