Sunburst at sunset at the historic grain elevator in Neipath, Saskatchewan, Canada. (Photo 145802436 © Nancy Anderson | Dreamstime.com)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Weather Preview

Cold weather ahead for Sask. to start 2024, little snow expected

Dec 29, 2023 | 2:34 PM

People in central and northern Saskatchewan can expect a colder winter as soon as the calendar flips over.

According to Terri Lang, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the temperature is expected to drop below -10C by the middle of next week.

She said farmers and ranchers hoping for some snow won’t be too happy.

“There are some indications that there will be some weather systems moving through with the change in colder weather, but it’s not looking like a lot in the way of accumulation.”

Lang added she understands why many in the agriculture sector are worried since the snow ensures the soil gets enough moisture ahead of seeding and gives cattle specifically another source of water. She explained around 1 cm of snow usually melts down to roughly 1 mm of water, meaning farms need as much snow as they can get.

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Whatever the amount of snow Central Saskatchewan gets to start 2024, it’s safe to say it’ll be much more than the southern part of the province.

“The weather system is coming from the northwest… and sometimes when it gets to southern Saskatchewan there’s not a lot of juice left in it,” said Lang.

She noted this is only the case for the first couple of weeks of January. She’s not saying there will be snow afterwards, just that they don’t like forecasting weather over two weeks away.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow