Weather records fall like dominoes as warm air blankets Sask.

The warm, Pacific air blowing into Saskatchewan is breaking temperature records all over the province.

According to Environment Canada, 23 communities set new record highs for Jan. 30 on Tuesday, thanks to the warm air mass bringing spring-like weather to the province during a period that’s typically very cold.

“It’s thanks to El Niño again,” said Environment Canada’s Terri Lang. “We had a bit of reprieve when that really cold air moved in, but we’re back in it.”

Some of the records that fell this week were more than 90 years old.

The Regina area set a new record of 10.2 C on Tuesday, more than doubling the 92-year-old record of 5 C set all the way back on Jan. 30, 1931.

Moose Jaw also smashed a nine-decade-old record on Tuesday as the mercury reached 16 C. That’s well above the record of 10.6 C set on Jan. 30, 1931.

Maple Creek was the hot spot on Tuesday, reaching 21.1 C and smashing the 1993 record of 14.1 C. That’s the hottest temperature ever recorded in the province in January, Lang said.

“We’re getting that chinook effect all the way into Saskatchewan,” Lang explained. “With Maple Creek, they get a couple extra bonus degrees off the Cypress Hills and the higher elevations.”

Here are the other areas where records fell Tuesday:

• Assiniboia: 13.7 C (previous record was 6.1 C in 2006)
• Broadview: 8.2 C (previous record was 6.9 C in 1993)
• Coronach: 16.3 C (previous record was 7 C in 1995)
• Cypress Hills: 14.3 C (previous record was 12.2 C in 1931)
• Elbow: 10.8 C (previous record was 5 C in 1993)
• Estevan: 8.7 C (previous record was 5.6 C in 2018)
• Indian Head: 7.9 C (previous record was 6 C in 1993)
• Kindersley: 7.1 C (previous record was 5.1 C in 1987)
• Last Mountain Lake: 9.1 C (previous record was 5 C in 1975)
• Lucky Lake: 11.1 C (previous record was 5.4 C in 2018)
• Nipawin: 8.2 C (previous record was 7.7 C in 1993)
• Outlook: 10 C (previous record was 9.4 C in 1931)
• Rockglen: 12.1 C (previous record was 6.1 C in 1973)
• Scott: 7.8 C (previous record was 6.7 C in 1931)
• Spiritwood: 10.2 C (previous record was 9.8 C in 1993)
• Swift Current: 17.2 C (previous record was 8.9 C in 1941)
• Waskesiu Lake: 11.3 C (previous record was 10.6 C in 1993)
• Watrous: 9.1 C (previous record was 6 C set in 1993)
• Weyburn: 12.9 C (previous record was 7 C in 1993)
• Wynyard: 9.5 C (previous record was 4.2 C in 2017)

While Lang said more records could tumble this week, she said she doesn’t expect temperatures to be quite as warm as Tuesday.

Temperatures are expected to gradually cool as the weekend approaches. Some snow could fall this weekend, Lang noted, but it won’t be nearly as cold as the polar vortex that descended on the province at the beginning of the month.

Outdoor rinks melting away

Anyone who wants to spend time skating outdoors this week should probably check in advance to ensure the ice hasn’t disappeared.

In Saskatoon, Meewasin’s skating rink is closed until further notice due to the warm air melting away the ice surface.

In Regina, the Rink on Wascana is also closed on Wednesday. The Provincial Capital Commission said it’ll monitor conditions daily to determine when the rink can be opened again.

— With files from Mia Holowaychuk and Brent Bosker