Relatively speaking, October has been very warm in the southeast. This mild weather, however, could soon be coming to an end.
Brennan Allen is a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. He said they are fairly confident there will be a significant pattern change right across the prairies, including southeast Saskatchewan.
“We have a cold front that originating from a low over the Beaufort Sea, and that Arctic air is going to get sent down through the territories, and right through the northern portions of our province, towards the latter half of the weekend and into early next week,” Allen explained.
While the air coming down is expected to be dry for the most part, there will still be a chance, with the temperatures dipping below the freezing mark, for any precipitation associated with the front to come down as snow.
While the change in weather will seem rather drastic given the conditions that have been enjoyed throughout the southeast this month, Allen reminded that it isn’t outside of the norm.
“We are used to seeing snowfall in the fall months; it’s not unusual.”
There is also some talk of forecast models that are showing we could see a significant amount of snow next week. Those models, however, don’t all agree, according to Allen. He noted right now, there is about a 30 to 40 percent chance of seeing what is considered significant snowfall in the southeast – that is, enough snow to be worth shovelling.
Once all the risk of snow and cold air moves on, we shouldn’t expect a return to the above-normal temperatures, though.
“We might rebound closer than normal, but compared to what we’ve been seeing, it’s all going to feel colder than normal,” Allen cautioned. “I wouldn’t be anticipating 15, 20-degree days with sunshine for the foreseeable future, maybe not again until next year.”
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