Early fall heat breaks daily temperature records in Saskatoon, 11 other Sask. communities

Hot weather broke daily temperature records in a dozen communities across south and central Saskatchewan, including Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, on Wednesday.

Moose Jaw was the province's hotspot at 35 C, breaking the previous daily record of 33.2 C set in 2014, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said on Thursday.

Rosetown (34 C) came in second in the province and was 0.2 degrees hotter than its previous 2001 record, while Saskatoon had its hottest Sept. 25 on record at 33.2 C, half a degree higher than the previous record set in 2001.

Prince Albert (32 C) topped its 2001 daily record by three degrees and Waskesiu (29.2 C) also set a record, up from 27.6 in 2011.

Meanwhile, Melfort and Nipawin had their hottest days on record in 74 years. Daily highs reached 32.1 C in Melfort and 32.6 C in Nipawin, smashing the 30 C record set in 1950 in both areas.

Other communities that saw record temperatures include Watrous (33.7 C), Outlook (33.6), Rockglen (31.8 C), Wynyard (31.4 C) and Spiritwood (30.7 C).

ECCC meteorologist Terri Lang said the heat was a knock-on effect of the weather system that brought an early atmospheric river to coastal British Columbia this week and spurred a high-pressure ridge to develop over the Prairies, pushing heat into parts of Saskatchewan.

"The strength of that particular system contributed to the strength of the system that we are seeing on the Prairies here, in that the deeper that big trough digs off the coast of British Columbia, the higher the ridge pumps over top of the Prairies," Lang said. "So it's kind of a see-saw."

The thunderstorms that broke from north to south in Saskatchewan on Thursday morning are also part of that system, Lang said.

She said that while the heat was short-lived and temperature records weren't broken all across the province, the late September heat is still significant.

"We don't often see this kind of heat this late," said Lang.