First official day of spring in Saskatoon begins with cloud and rain

SASKATOON -

After a few days of melting snow under the sun, the first day of spring in Saskatoon brought rain clouds, making for a less than ideal Sunday.

“I would have worn a jacket if I knew it was going to be raining like this,” Franco Paul said during a walk along the South Saskatchewan River. 

Paul and Katherine Milan were two of the very few people out in the wet weather on Sunday.

Milan recently returned from a month-long vacation at the start of March in South Africa, and Saskatoon’s constantly changing weather has her wishing she was still soaking up the 30 plus Celsius temperatures during her vacation.

"It sucked coming back to -40 C, so I’m excited for spring and summer to come,” Milan said.

That was the prevailing feeling over the weekend as some people didn’t want to dwell on the rough winter.

“Just even getting out to the dog park to enjoy the sunshine, the days with a little bit more sunshine and feeling the sun in the backyard and watching things start to melt. It’s pretty cool,” Kimberly Olfert said, looking towards the moments she most enjoys about spring.

Environment Canada meteorologist Sandy Massey says the usual highs are around plus-three for this time of year, but like most wild weather days in Saskatchewan, things can change fast.

"Today we've got a low pressure system crossing the area,” Masses said. “Towards the Prince Albert and Melfort-area, we're looking at some snow -- five to 10 centimetres, so anybody travelling up there just be aware that there's some severe amounts of snow coming. After that, it's a little bit drier this week."

A grey, wet start to spring is not what Paul wanted.

“I’ve had enough of this winter already, so I can't wait to see some sunshine here.”