It’s the official first day of fall, a fun time of year when pumpkins are spiced and jerseys fuzzy for some, and the start of hockey season for others.
However, for meteorologists, the fall began on the first day of September.
“Weather seasons start at the beginning of the month, so for us it’s been fall for three weeks,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Natalie Hasell. “But I can totally understand why the Equinox would draw a lot of attention to forecasts for the next few moments.”
Hasell said we can mostly expect seasonal or slightly above seasonal temperatures for the next seven days.
“Freezing happened last night in a whole bunch of places in southeast Saskatchewan and will likely happen again,” Hasell said. “Then we have a few days of clear skies later in the forecast around the weekend, where there could possibly be some scattered frost around then also overnight and early morning.”
She added that from September 28 to October 5, we should have above normal temperatures in southeastern Saskatchewan and most of the Prairies.
“We have a monthly forecast, and the last one I have was released last week on the 15th, and that’s September 19 to October 17,” Hasell explained. “In this forecast, there is no dominant trend for most places in the southern Prairies, but nearby places appear to have an above normal trend, so it is a possibility.”
As for precipitation over this period, there is no dominant trend, according to Hasell.
“It’s normal to have precipitation, but if it will be above or below normal, my forecast doesn’t tell me at this time,” she said. “There’s a chance of showers this week and then there are a number of days where we don’t expect a lot of rain until maybe early October.”
Environment Canada publishes three-month forecasts at the end of each month.
“There seems to be an above normal signing, but remember that’s a three-month trend, so it’s not exactly something you can plan for, and there isn’t either no more dominant trend for precipitation here.”
Weyburn and much of the south east experienced frost last night.
“As farmers or gardeners, you will need to take action if you haven’t already. Sometimes we get a little fog here and there, especially if you get that rainfall later this week and then they dissipate, that locally available moisture might actually turn out to be doing something, so depending on humidity levels, that could be an issue.”
Find the latest weather conditions HERE.
