The month of October started out with cooler temperatures, as snow dominated the forecast. Weyburn came close to setting records on a number of occasions for overnight lows, and the daytime highs struggled to get above 5°.

Now, we seem to be in the middle of a heat wave, with temperatures well above the average for this time of year.

Bryan Van Wilgenburg is a meteorologist with Environment Canada. He explained the nice weather is all because of a system to the west of Saskatchewan.

“Just a large upper ridge of high pressure that’s been pushing over B.C. and then associated with, as well, a strong southerly flow in the wake of a surface ridge of high pressure,” van Wilgenburg told Discover Weyburn.

The high pressure has meant temperatures double the average with sunshine dominating the skies. The temperatures haven’t been warm enough for records, though.

The hottest October 17th on record came back in 1963 when the mercury reached 25.6°, well above the 20.8° we reached Wednesday. Thursday was close to a record as well, with a high of 22.9°. The forecast isn’t calling for anything close to a record in the coming days either, with the highest temperature expected closer to 17° next week.

“We often have temperature swings of these nature in the fall,” said van Wilgenburg. “It just happens it’s been very cold for the last month, unseasonably cold, so it‘s kind of catching people by surprise.”

The temperatures are expected to stay above normal, with little chance of precipitation as the jet stream stays way to the north of southeast Saskatchewan. The trend is being forecasted to last well into next week.

You can stay up to date with the latest details on what to expect with our five-day forecast.