Moose Jaw residents will have to trade in those bunny hugs for a winter jacket, as the balmy weather that has been seen in January will be behind us according to Environment Canada. 

Environment Canada Meteorologist, Terri Lang says the federal agency is tracking an Arctic blast of cold air that will sweep through the region. 

“There is a big push of cold air,” says Lang. “It looks like temperatures will get toward seasonal values and then perhaps a little bit below but we’re not expecting anything too much out of the ordinary with this cold. It’s more of what we should be having this time of the year instead of what we’re experiencing.” 

Temperatures will begin to dip way below zero beginning on Saturday, as the daytime highs are expected to only get to –18 C, and then colder on Sunday at –20 C.  

January’s weather has been unordinary, to say the least as in the last two weeks the daily mean temperature hasn’t dropped below –10 C. The average high for January is -6.9 C, with the low at –14.2 C.  

Lang did want to mention that as this cold snap will bring us into February and the temperatures are expected to stay around the seasonal average for the month, things could change.  

“Absolutely, the long-range forecast for February is for temperatures to continue below average,” adds Lang. “That doesn’t mean that we won’t see warm air and doesn’t mean that we won’t get into the bad cold. We do know that for the next little while it’s going to be on the cold side.” 

The average high usually seen in Moose Jaw for February is –4 C, with the average low much colder at -14. 2 degrees. 

On a positive note, the forecast isn’t showing much wind, so the wind chill values won’t extend much more than the projected overnight lows. Along with no wind, the sun will be out for most of next week.  

Lang did say that residents should see a reprieve from the cold temperatures next weekend.