Warm air is returning to Prince Albert, or, at least, warmer air. (File Photo/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Warming Up At Last

Prince Albert to finally escape arctic air

Jan 10, 2022 | 12:00 PM

A long stretch of frigid temperatures going back to before Christmas is finally starting to break. By the middle of this week, a much warmer weather pattern is expected to settle in.

According to Environment Canada, after a slight warm up today, things will really heat up on Tuesday and Wednesday, as temperatures rise to just below freezing at the high. It will be a welcome change for many after weeks of being in and out of extreme cold warnings.

“The whole weather pattern is changing all across western Canada,” said Environment Canada regional meteorologist Terri Lang. “Chinook winds are kicking in in Alberta and that’s pushing milder air into the province of Saskatchewan. It’ll take a day or two to push it all out, but we’re finally seeing some milder temperatures.”

At first glance, Tuesday looks like the clear winner in the “warmest day of the week” contest with a high around -1 Celsius. After last week, however, all week is going to feel much warmer than the last several.

“I still think there will be a couple of days in there were temperatures will be quite mild,” Lang said. “There are weather systems moving through more northern and central Saskatchewan, so that’ll bring in the milder air. It could be a couple of days where you get close to the freezing mark.”

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All of the prairies are getting a warm-up this week, breaking out of a long cold snap that blanketed the western half of the country. The sudden shift from frigid cold to above-average temperature isn’t abnormal for this region either.

“Our temperatures are slowly warming,” said Lang. “Tomorrow we’ll be much warmer. It’s one of those things where Saskatchewan, we know even looking at the record temperatures for today, there’s a difference of 7 (C) to -49 (C), so anything can happen.”

One thing to watch for as the air warms up is a freeze-thaw cycle. With temperatures getting close to the freezing mark during the day and falling well below it at night, things may get a bit slippery as the week goes on.

“It will start melting the snow, and there is substantial snow around,” Lang said. “Overnight, of course, when the temperatures drop below freezing again it’s going to ice everything up. Black ice is most certainly going to be an issue, at least over the next couple of days when those temperatures do reach near freezing.”

Lang added that -20 C this morning probably felt warm to a lot of people, which shows that while we may not enjoy the cold, we can adapt to it.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP