Saskatchewan saw plenty of extreme weather in 2024

The numbers don't always tell the story.

This was true with Saskatchewan's weather at points throughout 2024.

Data shows a few months this year had average temperatures and amounts of precipitation — sometimes for the first time in a while.

But hidden within those months were some wild extremes.

Saskatchewan's weather in November and December 2023 was highly influenced by a strong El Niño pattern.

Many locations experienced a brown Christmas for the first time in years, with temperatures trending much warmer than normal.

But as January arrived, so too did the traditional cold and snowy winter.

Southwest and west-central Saskatchewan experienced a mid-January cold snap not seen in a very long time.

Leader, approximately 150 kilometres northwest of Swift Current, recorded its lowest temperature ever early on Jan. 14 — hitting -46.4 C. Its lowest windchill factor ever was also recorded that morning at -56 C.

But just two weeks later, that part of the province saw record warmth.

Maple Creek went from -32.6 C on Jan. 12 to 21.1 C on Jan. 30 — the warmest January temperature ever recorded in Saskatchewan and the second-warmest in Canada.

Almost 70 other temperature records fell during the five-day warm spell.

The El Niño pattern began breaking down in March, but not before giving Saskatchewan one of its warmest and driest winters on record.

Many locations were 4 C to 5 C warmer than average and some places barely got half of the average moisture they normally receive. It was making a bad drought situation in the province even worse.