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The weather on the prairies is rather extreme and prone to wild deviations from average at any time of the year, so it's hard to say what's really "typical", but in general this is approximately what you can expect each month here in Saskatoon...
January:
Very cold, sunny. Extreme cold (-30 or below) can occur at any point in the month. Blizzards are possible this month.
February:
Very cold, sunny. Extreme cold and blizzards can happen this month as well.
March:
Starts off cold, but warms up quickly. The snow-pack usually starts to melt in the second half of the month. First rain of the year usually occurs towards the end of the month. In 2010 we actually had the first thunderstorm of the year in March.
April:
Starts off a bit cool, but the snow is generally all melted by the end of the first week or so of the month (though nights often remain below freezing). The temperature can be highly variable - some days you can wear a t-shirt while others may a require your winter coat (though most days you should be fine with just a hoodie/sweater). Snowfall is possible but doesn't occur every year, and doesn't stick around if it does come down.
May:
Initially you might still be wearing sweaters during the day, but the nights start to be above freezing in this month, the grass turns green, the leaves are budding, and you can usually be out in a t-shirt most days by the second half of the month. Snow is possible early on in the month, but doesn't happen very often (I've seen it twice in the last eleven years). This is generally the start of the thunderstorm season, and you can get severe thunderstorms or tornadoes in May even though it's not that hot.
June:
Nice and warm. Frosts and the possibility of snow are gone, nights are above freezing, and although the occasional chilly day occurs you can generally be comfortable outside in a t-shirt almost everyday. This is the rainiest month of the year and can feature some pretty good thunderstorms. The days are long, and although moderately warm on average, can get quite hot at times (the city's hottest recorded temperature was recorded in early June).
July:
The heart of summer - this is the hottest month of the year. Daytime temperatures on average are in the mid 20s Celsius, but can easily rise up into the 30s and can also feature occasional periods of fairly high humidity, as well as severe thunderstorms.
August:
Nice and warm but summer starts to wane in this month. The days are getting shorter, thunderstorms are less frequent than the last few months, and the colors of the landscape start to get duller towards the end of the month (when you drive outside the city, the previously lush green fields are now mostly yellow/brown). You can still get some pretty hot days here (we hit 39 degrees in mid-August 2008) but overally it's not quite as hot as July, and the nights start to get cooler.
September:
Fairly comfortable, but starts to cool down. Overnight frosts generally start happening in the second half of the month, and sweaters become more commonly needed during the day throughout the month. You can still get occasional periods of hot weather, but the sun angle is lower than during summer and humidity is almost always quite low, so it doesn't feel that hot even when it hits 30 degrees. Grass starts to turn yellow and leaves change color.
October:
Chilly. Sweaters or jackets will be needed outdoors most days, nights are definitely below freezing, and the landscape becomes colorless as the grass finishes turning yellow and the trees become leafless. First snowfall of the season almost always occurs in this month - sometimes it's permanent, sometimes not.
November:
Cold. Most days are below freezing now, and the first permanent snowfall (if it didn't already happen last month) is now happening in the first week or two of the month. The first very cold (-20) days tend to happen this month.
December:
Very cold. Extreme cold, heavy snowfall, and blizzards can happen at any point in the month.
The months aren't too different from each other here, but I did my best :P
January: cold, gloomy, and rainy. Most years have at least a little bit of snow, but usually not much (last January was one exception). The most impressive arctic outbreaks have tended to happen in this month, though.
February: chilly and usually gloomy, but sometimes features a week or two of sun. Not quite as rainy as January. A bit of snow may fall.
March: chilly, damp, and gloomy. Snow is possible, but rarely sticks.
April: often chilly and damp, but a good portion of days have both sun and showers, or no clouds. The first month when actual warmth is possible.
May: Usually lots of sunbreak-and-shower days, with a few completely sunny days. Overcast, chilly days are still possible.
June: See above, but warmer.
July: Usually the month when real summer arrives. Most days are sunny and pleasantly warm, with maybe one or two 90+ days thrown in, usually followed by a chilly marine layer. Warm-core thunderstorms happen every couple July's or so; there were a few nice ones this year.
August: See above. A usually pleasant, docile month, with very little hot or depressingly cloudy weather.
September: Also usually pleasant--by the end the air usually turns chillier, and rain is likelier, but all in all one of the least gloomy months.
October: The beginning of this month is often beautiful, with blue skies and chilly nights. By mid-month, the Pacific storms start rolling in, often bringing the first significant rain since June. Frosts are possible, though rare, by the end of the month.
November: The stormiest month, with the highest average rainfall. Windstorms and/or flooding may occur, with a slight chance of a cold snap and a day or two of snow.
December: Also stormy and wet. Very gloomy, though arctic air may bring a week of sunny, cold weather. As of late, this has been the best month for snow. The worst windstorm in the last 20 years struck in 2006 in this month.
A few images taken today by me at around 14:10.. very appropriate for the time of year. It's rained on every day for the past 12 days, 22 days for the entire month (including small totals less than 1mm), 111.5 mm / 4.3 in for the month, and rising..
Last edited by dunno what to put here; 12-31-2012 at 07:53 AM..
December is our wettest month on average here in Portsmouth with 80mm being the norm. I have recorded 118.9mm this month & it is still raining as I type...
A few images taken today by me at around 14:10.. very appropriate for the time of year. It's rained on every day for the past 12 days, 22 days for the entire month (including small totals less than 1mm), 111.5 mm / 4.3 in for the month, and rising..
I miss that weather not the floods, mind, but the cloudy skies and rain
Is it so sunny in Pennsylvania that rain is a distant memory? I've got the impression the east coast at least gets frequent thunderstorms in the summer, even if the climate is sunny on the whole.
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not the floods, mind, but the cloudy skies and rain
