Environment Canada says Saskatchewan’s deep freeze is expected to ease at least for a couple of days before winter reasserts itself later in the week. (JuliaSha/Depositphotos.com)

By CKOM Staff

WEATHER

Saskatchewan deep freeze eases with warm-up early next week

Dec 28, 2025 | 10:50 PM

Saskatchewan stayed locked in bitter cold Sunday, but forecasters said a noticeable warm-up was on the way early next week, enough to lift daytime highs by roughly 10 to 15 degrees in many areas.

“It’s sitting around -21 C, -22 C today, and we’ll likely bottom out late tonight around -25 C or -26 C,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Luszny.

Temperatures across the province remained well below freezing throughout the day, with the cold expected to intensify overnight as the Arctic air mass settled in. Luszny said temperatures could reach their coldest levels near midnight.

Luszny said a warm-up is expected to start late Monday as the current Arctic high-pressure system shifts away, allowing milder Pacific air to move in over the Rockies and spread into Saskatchewan.

“As that Arctic high pressure shifts away, we get warmer air coming in from the Pacific, which helps temperatures jump by 10 to 15 degrees,” he said.

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He said the change wouldn’t bring spring-like weather, but it would likely be enough to push daytime highs into the single-digit negatives. Luszny said the forecast is for highs around -5 C, -6 C, or -4 C on Monday and Tuesday.

That’s above average for this time of year, he said.

“The average normal for high for this time of year is about -10 C, and the average low is about -22 C,” Luszny said.

He said that meant Monday and Tuesday should come in warmer than typical before a midweek cool-down nudged temperatures back toward seasonal norms.

Luszny said temperatures are expected to drop Tuesday night again into Wednesday, returning closer to what we would typically expect in late December. Even so, he described the warm-up as a meaningful break from the cold, particularly after a stretch of daytime highs in the minus-20s.

For residents, the swing could mean a different feel on roads, sidewalks and parking lots as conditions shift from extreme cold to slightly milder air, even if it stays below freezing. And while the warm-up should help take the edge off, Luszny cautioned it wasn’t the start of a long-term pattern change.

Instead, he said it was a typical Prairie push-and-pull: Arctic air in place now, a brief Pacific bump early in the week, then temperatures settling back toward normal.

The bottom line, he said, was that Saskatchewan’s deep freeze was expected to ease at least for a couple of days before winter reasserts itself later in the week.