A Wyoming Low slammed into south-central Saskatchewan Sunday and dumped massive amounts of snow in some locations and a light dusting in others.

Moose Jaw and the surrounding area seemed to have taken a direct hit and in the process broke a record.

"Looks like anywhere from 25 to 40 centimetres fell in and around Moose Jaw," said Terri Lang, Environment Canada Meteorologist, noting that the weather agency is unable to provide a definitive amount.

"We do not record snow anymore anywhere in the province. It's always a challenge in the winter to try and find snowfall amounts, we get some idea from our automatic weather station at the airport which uses a laser that points down and measures the depth that way, but of course, in Saskatchewan, it's windy so the snow depth varies quite a bit in the wind, so we kind of use that as a guideline," said Lang adding that the agency uses volunteers and social media to better estimate how much snow fell.

Two area residents shared snow depth from their yards, which ranged from 33 to 45 cm.

Based on this information, Moose Jaw has broken a 25-year-old snowfall record. The old record was 6 cm of snow that fell on October 23rd, 1997. Snowfall records date back to 1943 in Moose Jaw.

Those still holding out hope for a snow free Halloween are in luck as tempatures will reach into the double digits over the weekend.

"I think the snow is going to be gone in a couple days. We don't see a big outbreak of really cold air coming in and staying, and that's what's usually the the indicator of snows that will stay. It'll take a few days, just because there is so much snow, but I I don't think it's here to stay," added Lang.

 

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