Saskatoon sees return of normal winter conditions

Despite a strong start to winter with heavy snowfall and cold temperatures, December saw not much snow and mild temperatures into the Christmas holiday.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says the average daytime highs over the last 30 years for the Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Battleford regions are near minus 10, so the warm years are usually matched by cold ones.

“In 2021, we were minus 22 for this week, for that Christmas break week,” said Alysa Pederson, meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “This year we’re looking at minus five to zero, where we’re quite a lot above that normal of minus ten.”

Snowfall levels have been higher in 2024 than they were this time last year, says Pederson.

“Christmas day has kind of been a reference point, but generally speaking this year in Saskatoon we had 28 centimetres [of snowfall],” she said. “Compare that to last year where he had nothing.”

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Friday brought a mix of freezing rain and snow, making for less than ideal driving.

“Travel Not Recommended” advisories have been on and off across Saskatchewan with the Provincial Highway Hotline saying conditions “can change rapidly and unexpectedly.”

For Saskatoon residents on the ski hill, though, conditions were perfect.

“When it’s around zero to minus five, we get super busy around here with tubers coming out,” said Maxine Tebbe, general manager at Optimist Ski Hill. “Skiers and snowboarders will come out when it’s minus 20 outside, but yeah, the tubers come out when its about these milder temperatures.”

Tebbe says those mild temperatures make it hard to produce artificial snow to maintain a good base.

“When it’s warmer out, of course then you’re getting more wet snow,” she said. “Then of course it kind of leaks into the ground. So yeah, when it’s colder it’s definitely making better snow out there.”

But Pederson says the colder it gets, the less snow usually falls.

“Once you start getting colder than minus 15 for daytime highs, the air mass actually can’t hold as much moisture,” she said. “So typically, you might get some flakes, you might get snowfall, but you’ll have smaller crystals if you do get snow. And it’s kind of just that dusting that you’ll see. You don't really see the big snowfall storms unless you're kind of above that minus 15.”

Pederson says it will continue to get colder into the new year, but there could be a return to more comfortable outdoor activity temperatures in the second week of January.