Cold in Sask. persists, warm up expected for coming week

The sun rose on a province covered in hoarfrost and the mercury bottoming out in some thermometers in on Saturday as extreme cold gripped Saskatchewan – though a break in the cold was on the horizon.

An extreme cold warning persisted for most of the province in the morning, but slowly they were removed for areas west and northwest throughout the day.

Justin Shaer is a meteorologist with Environment Canada. He said on Saturday morning that areas from Saskatoon, and areas close to the Manitoba border would likely continue to be under the extreme cold warning through the day and into Sunday morning.

“It’s still clear sky so that’s kind of helping create these cold temperatures with no cloud to moderate any of the heat loss,” explained Shaer.

Shear said it was a good day to stay inside.

“Maybe today’s not the best idea to try cross-country skiing or something like that.”

But for those who do decide to head out. “Make sure you dress in layers, you want to stay hydrated, that kind of idea. Make sure to reduce the amount of exposed skin, so you’re covered up with toques and gloves and that stuff,” said Shaer.

It’s expected to be a short cold snap though, Shaer said temperatures would be jumped up through the coming week.

“Looks like pretty good agreement into Christmas – highs around -10 C. By all means pretty enjoyable winter temperatures compared to what we’re getting right now.”

The forecast on Saturday was predicting highs of -2 C for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.