Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
21h ago
More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
While many in the cities were looking out their windows with a grimace as the snow came down on Sunday, some farmers were happy to see the moisture falling on their fields.
Jim Hale farms near Swift Current and said his fields have been very dry to start the year.
Hale said that, in his area, they got about three-quarters of an inch of rain and about four inches of snow, though in open areas the snow blew off the fields.
“(It was) definitely a good start, and if we have a little more unsettled weather, we should be OK going through the rest of May here,” said Hale.
He had actually started seeding on Saturday morning before the weather started to turn, but he said as far as delays go, the rain and snow was a welcome one.
On the other side of the province, near Fillmore, Jake Leguee’s soil moisture isn’t bad but he was also fine with the wet weather.
“We were actually not in too bad of shape. Coming out of winter, we had a bit of runoff, more than north of us. The snow didn’t really add a whole lot of moisture, but it does help,” explained Leguee.
He said they’d had a bit of runoff out of winter and weren’t in too bad of shape. He started seeding about a week ago, and though he would rather have seen rain over snow, he’ll take moisture however he can get it.
“This’ll really get the crops started that we have in the ground so far,” he said.
Both Leguee and Hale are looking to get back on the fields this week.
Snow was ‘white gold’
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips spoke with John Gormley on Monday and called the snow “white gold” for many farmers in the province.
“The weather you were cursing on the weekend is really weather later on you would probably be blessing,” Phillips said, “because it was good for the economy of the province and certainly it was well-needed.”
Phillips said as much as 45 centimetres of snow fell in some areas of Saskatchewan and, while the snow caused issues for drivers on some of the province’s highways, it will be helpful to farmers and gardeners.
That said, he admitted the snow probably caught most people off-guard — especially those who enjoyed the 20 C temperatures that preceded the storm.
“The shock to the system, it’s almost a psychological blow,” Phillips said. “When you get those (higher temperatures), you’re seduced into thinking that winter is over. You’re starting to think about barbecues and getting the muscle shirts and tank tops out and then all of a sudden the snow comes back and so you think, ‘Oh my gosh.’
“It’s just the very nature of what spring is, very fickle, fitful kind of weather. Winter is sort of on your back step and summer is in your front yard. It’s that kind of season.”
Phillips wasn’t at all surprised that snow fell. According to Environment Canada’s records, Regina has had only one April without snow in 108 years and Saskatoon has had only 10 in that same time frame.
“And I hate to tell you that, in May, you also probably get around the 50-per-cent mark (likelihood of snow),” he said. “Forty-five to 60 per cent of Mays have at least a dusting of snow. It’s something you might not see. It may be snowing at night and you wake up in the morning and it’s gone, but nevertheless that white stuff does occur.”
Although the storm system that dumped snow on the province Sunday has passed through, Phillips noted it will have an impact on Saskatchewan in the coming days. He said temperatures will be between five and seven degrees below normal this week.