To say that Weyburn has received a lot of snow over the past couple of days is definitely an understatement. The numbers coming in from across the city vary, but they all point to the same thing – we set a new record. Not just for the most snow on April 19th, but the most snow to fall on Weyburn in one go, period.  

The previous highest snowfall amount, according to Environment Canada, was on April 28th, 1970, when Weyburn received 50.8 centimetres. On Wednesday, we received, according to some of the measurements obtained by Environment Canada, up to 61 centimetres of snow. For those who prefer imperial measurements, that is 24 inches or two feet. This not only sets the record for most snow on April 19th but for Weyburn in general. 

Now, this record will always be an unofficial one. The reason for this is that back in 2007, Environment Canada stopped officially tracking how much snow has fallen at any one time. The precipitation that has fallen since then is measured as the water equivalent, which isn’t always accurately measured for snowfall. To aid with this, a guideline of the 1cm to 1mm ratio is used, meaning that 1 cm of snow is usually equivalent to 1 mm of precipitation.  

Keeping this in mind, the record for the most precipitation in one day in Weyburn is 113 mm, set all the way back on July 2, 1990. The 1:1 rule means the snowfall we saw yesterday works out to roughly 61 mm of precipitation and would be the 9th greatest amount of precipitation received in a day in Weyburn. Of course, the measurement will continue to be imperfect, as there was quite a bit of snow that fell, and melted right away, which isn’t factored into the accumulation numbers, meaning Weyburn likely saw more than just 61 centimetres.  

Weyburn did appear to take the brunt of the storm, as the highest amounts recorded throughout Saskatchewan were in the Weyburn area. No numbers had come into Environment Canada from Estevan, but by all accounts, they did receive significantly less snow than Weyburn. Vibank, to the north of Weyburn near the intersection of Highways 48 and 35, received 22 centimetres, as did Regina. Other communities in the area reported amounts ranging from 30 to 40 centimetres.  

With this much snow falling on the city at one time, now comes a rather monumental task of cleaning up all the snow. Thankfully, the temperatures have remained relatively mild, with temperatures hovering around 0°. While this is well below seasonal for this time of year, it is still close enough to the freezing mark to keep thing smelting during the day. Temperatures are expected to start to return to normal by the middle of next week.