Weather Stats suggest August was nothing special

August was a fairly average month for weather in Saskatchewan.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Terri Lang compiles monthly weather statistics from weather stations around the province.

Lang says there wasn’t a lot of variation with temperatures, as all weather stations recorded temperatures within their respective averages for the month.

“When all the numbers were added up and averaged, we came out pretty close to 30-year average temperatures. When we do the rankings, the rankings seem high only because when we compare the coldest August we’ve ever recorded to and the warmest August we’ve ever recorded, there isn’t a whole lot of variation,” said Lang.

Station	Monthly Mean Temperature/Température moyenne mensuelle C	Msg	Normal/ Normale	Departure from Normals/Différence de la normale	Rank/Rang	Years of Data/Nombre d’années
ESTEVAN	18.6	0	18.6	0.0	53 warmest/le plus chaud	109
KEY LAKE	15.9	0	14.7	1.2	12 warmest/le plus chaud	48
LA RONGE RCS	17.6	0	16.1	1.5	10 warmest/le plus chaud	60
MEADOW LAKE	16.7	0	15.5	1.2	18 warmest/le plus chaud	76
MOOSE JAW CS	18.8	0	18.9	-0.1	44 warmest/le plus chaud	130
NORTH BATTLEFORD RCS	17.4	0	16.9	0.5	30 warmest/le plus chaud	83
PRINCE ALBERT GLASS FIELD	17.2	0	16.7	0.5	37 warmest/le plus chaud	140
REGINA RCS	19.0	0	18.1	0.9	28 warmest/le plus chaud	131
SASKATOON RCS	18.6	0	17.6	1.0	19 warmest/le plus chaud	128
SWIFT CURRENT	19.5	0	18.2	1.3	19 warmest/le plus chaud	139
YORKTON	17.7	0	17.1	0.6	36 warmest/le plus chaud	115

Temperature chart for August at weather stations around Saskatchewan. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Temperature Anomaly Map of Western Canada for August 2024. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Lang says precipitation was lacking last month with Key Lake and La Ronge recording their driest months ever. The exception was a low pressure system that swept through southern Saskatchewan towards the end of the month, and some thunderstorms in the southeast that brought some moisture.

Station	Monthly Precipitation Total/Hauteur de précipitations mensuelles (mm)	Msg	Normal/ Normale	Percentage of Normal/Pourcentage de la normale	Rank/Rang	Years of Data/Nombre d’années
ESTEVAN	33.9	0	51.7	66	44 driest/le plus sec	111
KEY LAKE	16.9	0	66.9	25	2 driest/le plus sec	47
LA RONGE RCS	10.7	0	60.6	18	3 driest/le plus sec	59
MEADOW LAKE	32.5	0	62.7	52	21 driest/le plus sec	75
MOOSE JAW CS	30.6	0	39.1	78	59 driest/le plus sec	133
NORTH BATTLEFORD RCS	44.1	0	57.9	76	40 driest/le plus sec	83
PRINCE ALBERT GLASS FIELD	36.5	0	61.6	59	53 driest/le plus sec	140
REGINA RCS	34.3	0	44.8	77	63 driest/le plus sec	139
SASKATOON RCS	50.7	0	42.6	119	41 wettest/le plus élevé	128
SWIFT CURRENT	15.3	0	41.5	37	26 driest/le plus sec	139
YORKTON	42.3	0	62.2	68	49 driest/le plus sec	116

Precipitation chart for August at weather stations across Saskatchewan. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Precipitation Anomaly Map of Western Canada in August 2024. Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada

Lang says there wasn’t a lot of lightning activity last month which speaks to how dry it was.

“It was about 72 per cent of average in August across Saskatchewan, and that’s the sixth lowest in about 22 years of record; we don’t have a whole ton of records but when you plot…the number of lightning strikes from year-to-year it’s decreasing across the Prairies.” she said.