Cold weather breaks records in Saskatchewan communities
CBC News | Posted: March 1, 2014 3:54 PM | Last Updated: March 2, 2014
This weekend's cold temperatures reached new lows for many cities and towns across the province
At least two dozen communities across the province smashed cold weather records Saturday, and 14 did the same on Sunday.
Among the Saturday records to fall was Regina where the coldest it had ever been on March 1 was -37.2 C recorded in 1972. By 7 a.m. CST, the mercury had dropped to -38.4 C.
At least 23 other communities across the province also reached new cold milestones Saturday, including Kindersley, Weyburn and Watrous. Of all the broken records, Swift Current broke the longest-standing one from 1962. That morning, Rosetown clocked in as the coldest Saskatchewan community at -40.7 C.
In Saskatoon, the lowest temperature recorded on a March 1 was in 1962, when it reached -37.8 C. At 8 a.m. Saturday the city reached the -37 C point, but it did not break the record.
On Sunday, 14 communities reached new March 2 records. Leader recorded the coldest temperature at -38.1 C.
Wind chill values also dip into the record books
If that's not cold enough for you, Environment Canada has also blanketed most of the province with an extreme wind chill warning for Saturday, and the warnings continued for parts of southeast Saskatchewan Sunday.
Regina, feeling as cold as -52 early Saturday, broke its previous wind chill record for the entire month of March of -49.2 in 1972.
It's still a long way from the very coldest wind chill ever felt in the city, though. The all-time wind chill record is -59.2 set on Jan 17, 1962.