Saskatchewan’s biggest weather stories from 2022

Saskatchewan residents are no strangers to extreme weather, but it can still be hard to get used to the winters.

David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, spoke to John Gormley to recap of some of the biggest weather stories in the province from 2022.

“Most often people talk to me (like I’m) a guy with a black cloud hanging over (his head),” Phillips joked. “I bring misery, hardship and misfortune from the weather.”

The year began, Phillips recounted, with a very intense cold stretch which carried over from last year. A similar event might happen with the cold this year heading into 2023, according to Phillips.

“We had, in both cases, a fairly mild fall,” Phillips said, which he suggested could make winter feel much worse.

“We’ve heard in both cases — last year and this year —  some of the coldest temperatures on planet Earth are in western prairies,” Phillips said.

“We just saw some brutally cold kind of conditions — wind chills that would (reach) -50 C that would freeze flesh in just seconds. Key Lake and even Maple Creek. I think the warm temperature there in that early January was like -22 C; I mean that’s the high for the day.”

Phillips said the July storms that rolled into Saskatchewan were really what stood out for him this year.

“It was a wet June, but it was the number of storms that came through in July that sort of stood out,” he said.

“There were four or five major ones. Some years you might get one of those, but there were four or five of them that just seemed to really pulverize parts of the province.”

Phillips mentioned the numerous tornadoes that formed in the summer as another notable weather event of the year. Saskatchewan experienced 25 twisters this year, the most the province has seen since 2012.

“They weren’t (all) big guys, but they would certainly scare the bejesus out of you if you saw one and if it was heading towards your area,” he said.

To Phillips, this year’s weather wasn’t just a series of unfortunate events. Last year’s drought conditions didn’t all carry over into 2022.

“What we saw was, certainly in eastern Saskatchewan, was not an end to the drought, but it certainly was a better year,” he said. “Mother Nature sometimes listens to us.”

Phillips mentioned that growers and ranchers had a difficult spring, and seeding was weeks behind the average. But producers caught a big break with the warm fall weather, Phillips said.

“What a blessing it was,” he said.

As much as he feels people associate him with bad news, Phillips said he loves to deliver positive and hopeful weather reports as well.