a ridgr of high pressure are bringing above normal temperatures to northern Saskatchewan for the next week or longer. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

weather update

Warmer temperatures but no rain expected in La Ronge in coming week

May 3, 2023 | 3:06 PM

A ridge of pressure over Western Canada has brought warm temperatures but no rain to the tri-communities.

“We’ve seen some record-breaking temperatures in B.C. and Alberta,” said Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Terri Lang.

“In Saskatchewan, we are kind of at the eastern edge of that ridge, so I don’t think we will see a lot of record-breaking temperatures, but we are certainly going to see some really warm temperatures. Average highs for this time of year are in the low teens and we are going to see temperatures on some days go over 20 C, but still running above average into the foreseeable future.”

Environment Canada is forecasting sunny skies until Sunday. Wednesday is expected to reach a high of 20 C and Thursday is expected to be 21 C. It also isn’t expected to freeze overnight for the next seven nights.

“The overnight lows are saying about freezing, but we know we can get snow in May no problem,” Lang said.

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“I don’t think we are going to be quite done with that yet, but for this time period with the size of this ridge, I think it’s going to be above freezing for a while, so it will melt what’s left of the snow and start working on the ice on the lake.”

While the average temperature in April was 1 C, which was normal for last month, La Ronge only received 24.4 millimeters of precipitation out of a normal 35.8 mm. March was also below average when it come to precipitation.

“La Ronge has a bit of ways to make up for some of the precipitation,” Lang said.

“It is also quite dry and we are not expecting any rain, maybe a chance next week if the ridge start to break down. For the next week, it will continue to be dry. It is really important at this time of year, now that the snow has melted and things haven’t greened up yet, this is the time wildfires are really an issue. People really need to be careful with ignition sources, so fires that are outside or cigarette butts or even vehicles in the ditches and stuff like that can start fires just because it is so dry.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno