'Highs' and 'lows' of 2022: How Estevan's weather stacked up historically

It was a colder-than-normal year in Estevan, though that isn't the best metric to gauge a changing climate or sum up the past 12 months' weather.

Estevan's average temperature in 2022 (barring the final two days of the year) was 2.6 C, making it the 24th-coldest year in 93 years. Its normal average over the last 30 years is 3.7.

Environment and Climate Change Canada Meteorologist Terri Lang said that an average temperature for 12 months doesn't accurately depict how the weather was on the whole.

"Last winter was cold, and the spring was cold. But then the summer got warmer and the fall was also warm. And then of course we got into some colder temperatures starting again in December. It doesn't really tell the whole story."

Estevan had 456 mm of precipitation during the year, compared to the average of 437.2, making it the 33rd wettest year in 85 years.

Lang said moisture levels also fluctuated significantly, from a cold, wet winter last winter, to a "bonkers" spring.

"For March, April, and May, you guys had 176 per cent of average precipitation. That made it the 8th-wettest spring on record."

She said the summer really warmed up, and the fall was even warmer than average and very dry.

The warmest temperature of the year was 35.3 on September 5, while the coldest was -37.3 on December 7 - a difference of 72.6 degrees.

"When you think about the big spread between those numbers, that's a huge spread. And of course that's quite characteristic of Saskatchewan. We have one of the highest differences in temperature through the year in the world. Just because we're not near any bodies of water that moderate our temperature."

When looking at climate change, Lang said things like the series of Colorado lows that hit Estevan in April, and the recent extreme snow storms that crippled southern Ontario and Buffalo point to the kinds of extreme weather we will see more and more of.

"Those are the types of volatility that climate change brings as opposed to the temperature changes, [which] will come out in the wash as the trends go up."