La Ronge Avenue in January 2024. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

El Niño

2023 marks warmest year on record for La Ronge

Jan 3, 2024 | 4:24 PM

An unusually strong El Niño, as well as perhaps climate change, is to blame for 2023 being the warmest year on record in La Ronge.

That’s according to Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang, who explained the presence of El Niño has attributed to La Ronge recording it warmest year in 59 years of record keeping. She noted the last strong El Niño year was in 1997.

“It was that year that we kind of knocked out a lot of new number ones this year, so the El Niño is certainly a contributing factor,” Lang said. “It’s yet to be determined, but there may be some contribution from climate change as well.”

The annual mean temperature for La Ronge in 2023 was 2.4°C, which was a 2.2°C departure from normal. Last year was the fourth warmest year for Key Lake (42 years of records), fourth warmest for North Battleford (79 years of records), fifth warmest for Meadow Lake (61 years of records), and fifth warmest for Saskatoon (119 years of records).

According the Environment Canada, El Niño can be distinguished when the surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific extending westward from Ecuador become warmer than average. The changing pattern of the Pacific Ocean causes a shift in the atmospheric circulation, which then impacts weather patterns across much of the Earth. Historically, Canada is mostly affected by El Niño during winter and spring.

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“What happens with El Niño, it tends to offset the jetstream farther to the North and the jetstream is that delineation from the cold air to the north and the warm air to the south,” Lang said.

“It’s also the train on which the low-pressure systems that give us rain and snow and thunderstorms, they travel along that jetstream, so if it is well to the north, it means the snow is falling elsewhere and, of course, we have seen that in the Arctic this year. They are getting lots and lots of storms because that’s where the jetstream is.”

December in La Ronge was also the warmest on record, as well as the driest. The monthly mean temperature in La Ronge was -7.3°C, representing a 9.1°C departure from normal. Key Lake, North Battleford, Regina, Saskatoon and Swift Current also broke heat records for December.

As for precipitation, it was the driest December for Key Lake, La Ronge and Meadow Lake. Normal precipitation for that month in La Ronge is 22.8 millimetres, but last month’s precipitation total was 0.9 mm.

“We are seeing a change in the jetstream,” Lang said of the upcoming forecast. “It is going to start sinking south, so that means, first of all, we will get into some temperatures that are more like seasonal average, then when may even get into some colder air after that. It also means with the jetstream sinking down, we can have some low-pressure systems that move through the province. We are looking for those to bring some snow.”

La Ronge is forecasted to have periods of snow starting Wednesday and lasting until Saturday. Temperatures will remain in the minus-mid-teens, until colder weather and sunny skies appear on Sunday. The temperature Sunday is forecasted to dip down to -22 C and continue to fall throughout the week.

“It might be time to finally pull out that winter jacket,” Lang said. “Take out those mitts, those toques, the scarves, extra layers, all that kind of stuff and just be prepared for the colder weather. We haven’t seen a lot of it this year, so we are really not ready for it yet. We are probably going to get some high windchill values when that air comes in as well, so just that precaution of taking care.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com