I looked out the window Wednesday morning. I didn’t like what I saw.
Summer had been over for more than two weeks. Those warm, sunny days that we’ve come to know should be replaced with cool, crisp, sunny autumn conditions. Usually the weather in October is still pretty nice, but my short-sleeved golf shirts should be replaced by long-sleeved dress shirts, and it’s usually a good idea to wear a jacket to work. It’s also not out of the question to shed that jacket when I’m out in the afternoon.
What I saw was not the weather that you would associate with those nice, crisp fall days we know so well. I saw was thick, wet snow falling to the ground, creating an unattractive white layer on the pavement, the grass and the trees.
Looking out the glass front door of the office, I couldn’t see to the end of Smith Street because of the weather.
Was it Oct. 9 or Nov. 9?
We’re not supposed to get this much snow this early in the month. It’s not uncommon for us to receive some snow in October. But on Oct. 9? Yeah, that’s a little bit early.
I’ve long believed that October is a month that sets the tone for the second half of fall and the winter. If we get a nice October, then we’ll often have a nice winter season. There have only been a few Octobers in which we didn’t get any snow; I’m guessing those account for some of the nicest winters on record.
But if October isn’t so nice, then it feels like winter has been prolonged. And I’m guessing that a lot of the nastiest winters on record had pretty nasty weather in October, or at least one strong October snow storm.
But it was still better than what I saw my first winter.
I had moved here from Langley, B.C. in September 2000. I knew the Saskatchewan winter was going to be tougher than the one I faced in the Lower Mainland of B.C.
The wet and dreary days of January in B.C. were to be replaced by cold, windy and harsh days. In B.C., you had that ugly wet snow. In Saskatchewan, it was light and fluffy.
We had a light dusting of snow in September 2000. I was not impressed. (This year might have been the first time since 2000 that I’ve seen snow in Estevan in September).
But the weather was generally pretty good for those first two months.
Then November hit.
On Nov. 1, we received about a foot of snow. Needless to say, I was stunned. I asked my landlord of the day whether it would stick around. He said the snow would be gone in a few days.
Six days later, Estevan received another foot of snow. This time, my landlord said the snow would be hanging around.
The ironic part is we received more snow in that first week of November than we did the next five months combined.
It was a rough introduction to winter in Saskatchewan. For whatever reason, two feet of snow on the ground before Remembrance Day was not in the promotional materials for Estevan.
As frustrated as we are about this change in the weather patterns, it’s an annoyance and an inconvenience for most of us. It didn’t keep most of us from going to work, and it didn’t prevent us from doing our jobs.
Highway travel was difficult, and it wasn’t a fun day driving around the city. But most were able to do what they needed to do.
I really feel bad for the farmers. This coating of wet snow is just another blow in what has been the harvest from hell. They need dry weather conditions to get the crop off each year. August, September and October are usually among the driest months of the year.
Mother Nature hasn’t been co-operating. Harvest was already delayed this year because the weather wasn’t what it should have been during seeding and the growing season.
They needed to have the weather co-operate during harvest, with those nice dry days we’re accustomed to in the final weeks of summer and the first few weeks of fall.
Crop quality has taken a big hit already. This snow is only going to make it worse. It’s going to keep producers out of the fields for several days while they wait, yet again, for conditions to be dry enough to get the big equipment into the fields.
With each passing day in which their crops remain in the fields, it takes money out of their pockets.
The weather is never perfect. There will always be hiccups during seeding, growing and harvest that will cause delays, or hurt the yields or the crop quality.
So maybe you’re like me and you weren’t happy to see the snow on Wednesday. In fact, there’s a good chance you weren’t happy to see it.
But at least the mere presence of snow likely didn’t hurt your finances.
