January cold snap caused around $180M in damages in Sask., western Canada

A severe cold snap in January that hit Saskatchewan and many other parts of western Canada caused an estimated $180 million in damages.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, about 70 per cent of insurance claims based on the cold weather in Saskatchewan, as well as Alberta and British Columbia were due to frozen and burst water pipes causing personal property damage.

The bureau says with the frequency and severity of destructive weather events increasing, so are the financial costs for insurers and taxpayers.

In Regina more than just homes were damaged due to the extreme cold.

City Hall as well as the Delta Hotel downtown saw pipes burst after prolonged periods of extreme cold temperatures.

Several burst pipes were also reported at various Regina condo and apartment buildings during the cold snap.

The weather event led to emergency services like Regina fire dealing with the aftermath.

City hall was closed to all staff and residents for a day because of the damage caused by the burst pipe.

Flights at both Regina’s and Saskatoon’s airport were delayed during the extreme cold spell.

A couple of weeks later much of Saskatchewan experienced record breaking warmth to end January.

On Jan. 30 Maple Creek, Sask. climbed to 21.1 C, the warmest temperature ever recorded for the community in January.

The southwest Saskatchewan town was even warmer than parts of Florida that day.

Presently, Regina is expecting above zero temperatures for most of the week, with 2024’s Spring Equinox arriving at 9:06 p.m. on March 19th.

--With files from The Canadian Press and David Prisciak.