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The first sneak peek of cooler weather was felt across the province overnight, also aligning with the first day of October.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Brian Proctor says Saskatoon registered at -2.3 degrees Celsius, Rosetown looked to be the coldest at -4.2 degrees at 7 a.m. with most of the colder locales stretching up to central portions of the northwest such as Meadow Lake at -3.5 degrees as well as a littler colder in a few spots in the southwest.

There was also widespread frost over much of Saskatchewan’s active growing area. Proctor says frost at this time of year is unhelpful but not unusual.

“We’re probably going to be playing with a risk of frost over the next three nights in Central Saskatchewan. Saskatoon has forecast lows of plus one, plus two, minus one. I don’t think it will be as hard as it was this morning until Saturday night, Sunday morning, but definitely we’re going to be playing with that risk across many communities.”

He says the upside to the frost is that it helps alleviate dew concerns in the morning for farmers still harvesting. Proctor also expects a little more wind on the landscape which will help with early morning harvest.

Despite the chilly night we had, Proctor says the effects of El Nino will be more dominant later in the fall and in the winter. For instance, he says the short-term forecast is a hint of what they expect to see through much of October

“At this time of year, our daytime highs should be about 15 and overnight lows at about three degrees, but right now we’re sitting 16 to 17 right through into the weekend, and then we really peak the temperatures on Monday next week with about plus 22.”

He says even week three and four of October is going to be warmer; primarily in Saskatoon and in the south of the province.