Sask. comes out of the deep freeze into the warmth

After dealing with extreme cold wind chills for the past week, people in Saskatchewan might cue the ‘hallelujah’ chorus when they step outside into warm temperatures.

Parts of central Saskatchewan are under a freezing rain warning Wednesday, but the forecast calls for temperatures to warm up significantly.

Environment Canada meteorologist Dave Phillips told the 980 CJME Morning Show the weather forecast is all good news for the rest of the week.

Regina may even come close to breaking a record Thursday with a high of 8 C which is 19 degrees warmer than normal temperatures for January. Saskatoon won’t be quite as warm with a high of 3 C.

Phillips pointed out the weather this week is the third thaw in the month of January and this one could last a few days longer.

“When you think about it there are some years where you don’t have any January thaw and you had one that was two days long and one and then one day long and this looks like maybe three or four days long,” he said.

Even when the temperatures cool down again, it will only be to seasonally normal temperatures rather than the deep freeze.

From mid-January to mid-February, Phillips said his weather models for Saskatchewan show milder than normal temperatures.

The downside to the warm-up will be the melt and freeze cycle which could wreak havoc on city streets.

The City of Regina is reminding residents to clear catch basins of ice to allow the melting water to drain from the streets and sidewalks.