Across southern Saskatchewan, some people are likely shedding their winter layers for light sweaters to bask in the mid-October sunshine.
Environment Canada Senior Climatologist David Phillips shared a laugh on 980 CJME’s Greg Morgan Morning Show about finally being right in telling people to hold out hope for a late October warm-up.
Although highs in the low 20s and high teens don’t really come close to a record, they do feel nice after shivering for much of September and waking up to snow more than once in the past few weeks. Phillips said now a ridge of high pressure with winds blowing from the south is bringing much warmer temperatures.
“It’s the way the winds blow and they’ve been blowing from the south and that’s why we’re seeing temperatures that are now instead of 12 degrees colder than normal are suddenly seven degrees warmer than normal,” Phillips explained.
While the weekend is expected to cool down to highs below 10 C, Phillips said the temperatures are set to bounce back up by Monday and stay that way. He said this warm-up is not just a one or two-day wonder but could be a one or two weeks wonder lasting right up until Halloween.
He said he is impressed with the longevity in the forecast models for this warmer weather.
“It’s almost as if nature is trying to seduce you and make up for the bummer September and October had been,” Phillips commented.
The warm-up has come as a late-season treat for golfers looking to fit in a few more rounds before the end of the season.
“We obviously have seen far more golfers than we normally would at this time of year. Yesterday we had something like 150 golfers play in the high of 21 C,” Greg Dukart, CEO of the Wascana Country Club said on Thursday.
“We were basically a full golf course from about 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then we had a few staggered tee times after that so it’s really quite remarkable,” he said, noting they had another 100 golfers on the course the next day.
Dukart said this weather is a big bonus for the golf course after very poor fall weather conditions through September.
He said in the past few years there have been very strong Septembers for golfing weather, but these conditions are an unusual gift to golfers in October.