With the year’s shortest month – February behind us, Environment and Climate Change Canada was able to provide insight into how it fared in terms of the weather conditions.  

Meteorologist, Natalie Hasell says that though there were some fluctuations in the temperatures in Moose Jaw over February, the month was relatively average. 

“The end of January and the beginning of February were below-normal, then we had almost two weeks of consistent above-normal temperatures and then a few days that weren’t too far from normal,” says Hasell. “Then around the 19th and 20th, we saw temperatures well below normal and now they’re back up to near normal temperatures.” 

The average mean temperature for the month was –9.2 C, which is 0.1 C higher than the Canada Climate average for Moose Jaw from 1981-2010.  

“You had a lot of ups and downs but they kind of tallied to normal,” adds Hasell.  

A mean temperature is an average of both daytime and nighttime temperatures over a month.  

The average high for February according to Environment Canada data was –4.1 C, and the average low was –14.4 C.  

The warmest February got to was 4.7 C on the 13th and the coldest day was on the 24th when the temperature dropped all the way down to –30.4 C.  

Hassel did say that though temperatures were roughly normal, their concern was the lack of precipitation southern Saskatchewan saw in the month, especially in Moose Jaw.  

“Your total precipitation in Moose Jaw was 2.2 millimetres of liquid equivalent. Most of that fell as snow but what you got didn’t amount to much.” 

Looking back at the Canadian Climate normals, Moose Jaw usually sees 11.1 mm of liquid equivalent in February. Hasell did add that February usually is the driest winter month but the little precipitation the area saw isn’t unheard of, as there have been past years where there was less.  

The lack of moisture seen in February has lasting effects on the farmers in the area.  

“Farmers feel it first and for the longest. If you don’t have your layer of snow on the ground, any bit of wind can strip that topsoil right off.” 

Looking ahead to the first weekend of March there is no precipitation in the forecast, but above-zero temperatures are expected on Friday and Saturday with a high of +3 C and +2 C expected respectively.