Environment Canada’s senior climatologist gives weather predictions for March

With spring just 19 days away, many people are ready to move on from winter weather.

David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Wednesday that even though spring weather is on the way, it may take some time for Saskatchewan to be done with winter.

However, there wasn’t a drop of rain or a flake of snow in the seven-day forecast for Regina, Phillips said.

“(That weather’s) not great for farmers (because) they need some precipitation, but (it’s) great for viewing the northern lights and (they’ve) been spectacular in some places,” he said. “Away from the city light pollution, (people) may be able to see those … dancing colours.”

The arrival of March doesn’t necessarily signal the sudden departure of snow.

Phillips says March typically has twice as much snow as February; in fact, he noted March is one of the snowy months.

“Often, the snow in March is good snow because it’s moist, not like January and February where it’s got no moisture at all and it’s barely worth falling,” he said. “In March and April, sometimes those spring white-washers we call them, (they) can bring a lot of snow, but it’s heavy and it provides a real nice drink of water to that topsoil.”

Phillips said from a temperature point of view, this winter was less difficult than last winter.

“I counted the number of cold days in Regina up until now and I think there’s been 31 or 32 (days where temperatures fell below -20 C). Last year, (there were) 47 of those suckers,” he said.

According to Phillips, Regina has been approaching the end of a La Nina, which makes the transition to spring weather more sluggish.

“The good thing about any kind of return to winter weather in March is that it’s not as intensely cold and it’s short-lived,” he said. “We can go through long bouts of the real cold stuff in December, January (and) February. It’s not a three-week wonder; it’s more of a three-day wonder (in March).”