Moose Jaw residents are probably over winter at this point, as several snow storms have hit the area and bone-chilling temperatures that have made things unbearable, especially in December.  

In no surprise, Moose Jaw’s temperatures and precipitation numbers for December are well below average, according to data released by Environment Canada.  

Beginning with December’s temperatures, Moose Jaw wasn’t the only location in the province to experience the cold in the month, as all weather stations were below average.  

“Moose Jaw came in with an average temperature of –15.7 degrees for the month,” says Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist, Terri Lang. “When you compare that to the 30-year average of –11.5 degrees, that was –4.2 below what it should be. That made it the 20 coldest December in 126 years of records. If people that December was cold, they were absolutely right.” 

Key Lake, SK, sold the biggest drop in temperatures in December as they were –6.2 degrees below their 19.2-degree average for the month. That difference made it the 9th coldest December in 44 years of records.  

Things were frosty in Swift Current as well in December, as they came in with an average of –15 degrees for the month, -5.6 degrees below the normal, making it the 12th coldest in 138 years of records.  

The unwanted cold in December was attributed to a few cold fronts that swooped through the region.  

“It got into the mid -30s and even closed to the –40 mark and the windchill factors getting into the mid –40s and even closer to –50 in some spots. The coldest morning came in at –34.5. The morning of Dec. 6th and 7th both came in at –34.5 degrees.” 

In December, 15 days were below –20 degrees for the low, while there were 26 days in the month where the daytime high was above –20 degrees.  

The temperatures have been and will continue to be more favourable through this week, as Saturday will be the warmest with a high of –1 currently being forecasted.  

Temp Pic Jan 4.png Photo credit: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Lang adds that these frightfully cold temperatures in December led Moose Jaw to have a drier month when it comes to precipitation.  

“In Moose Jaw the melted snow came out to 10.7 millimetres and if you compare that to the 30-year average of 16.5 mm, only 65 per cent of the average and that made it the 40th driest any storm systems rolled through.

Lang notes that there were hardly any storm systems that rolled through, due to the Arctic air deflecting storm systems around it.  

Precipitation Jan 4.png Photo credit: Environment and Climate Change Canada