If you’re planning to spend any time outdoors this Thanksgiving, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist forecasts sunshine with cool temperatures.
“I think if there’s a place I’d rather be on Thanksgiving, it would certainly be in Saskatchewan and not Manitoba,” David Phillips said during the Greg Morgan Morning Show.
Phillips said Manitoba will see blizzard-like conditions — high winds, rain and snow.
“But for you guys, it’s going to be cold, no question,” he added. “Temperatures on the weekend might be 4 to 7 degrees (Celsius) for the high. Typically, we’d get about 13.”
For farmers, Phillips said the cool temperatures won’t be ideal for drying their fields.
But, he noted, “they’ll certainly take this with almost seven days in a row without precipitation. I think that’s going to help the situation.”
Looking back, October has seen wild swings in weather.
Philips said Regina got 18 centimetres of snow over Thanksgiving weekend in 1998.
“Ten days later, people were golfing because the temperatures got up to 23 degrees,” he said. “That is what October is about.
“It can scare the bejeebers out of you when you see that snow and that cold, and my gosh, summer isn’t over yet so you can get those warm temperatures that can come back.”