Heat wave: Most of Sask. expecting temperatures in the 30s over the next week

Saskatchewan is about to get hit with one final blast of summer as the calendars are about to flip over to September.

Over the next week, almost every region in the province could see daytime highs reaching 30 C and above.

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According to Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, the warmest temperatures will be felt in the northern parts of the province.

“We got this really warm ridge of high pressure that’s just building in across western Canada. A lot of this warm air is going to be centered over northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories,” Luke explained.

“Basically, the closer you are to that, the closer you are to how hot it’s going to be.”

In Saskatoon, Environment Canada’s forecast for the week is showing only sunshine and highs in the 30 C range, with no rain in sight.

“It definitely looks like probably a week to 10 days of temperatures in the high 20s, low 30s,” Luke added. “A lot of sunshine for most of these days – if not all of these days.”

The meteorologist said the weather Saskatchewan is expecting this week is a lot warmer than what the province typically experiences at this time of year.

“This is quite above normal. It’s not completely unheard of that we see these really warm, dry spells kind of late August, but we do see this kind of every few years or so,” he said.

“This is the time of year where our normal temperatures really start to fall off and we kind of begin the descent into fall.”

Luke said during this time of year, Saskatchewan typically sees daytime highs reaching 22 or 23 C.

He said one nice thing about the heat wave ahead this week is that temperatures will drop into the low teens overnight.

“The nights are getting longer. We’re also not quite seeing the same level of humidity that we saw with even that last heat or warm spell,” he said. “Hopefully we get some relief at night.”

No confirmation of tornadoes reported Wednesday

Environment Canada said it is still trying to determine whether or not a tornado touched down north Saskatoon on Wednesday, working alongside tornado research groups.

After Wednesday’s storm, which saw more than 14,000 lightning strikes in a two-hour span, the weather office said there were reports of possible tornadoes in the areas around Martensville and Middle Lake.

Dr. David Sills, a member of the Northern Tornado Project based out of Western University in London, Ont., said his group sent a team to Saskatchewan to try to determine whether or not a twister touched down.

Sills said it could still take a while before we get an official answer.

“The team has finished collecting data, and now we have to untangle it all. Quite a complex storm,” he said. “It will take some time.”