Pig Spleen Prognostication for 2019

The forecast this year is based on spleens from free-range pigs that were raised on the Cobler farm at Gull Lake Saskatchewan and verified using several indoor spleens from Gull Lake Earview Colony. 
The prognostication was celebrated on December 7, 2018, in Regina at the Pig spleen prognostication party at The Artesian music hall. Entertainment was provided by the Saskatoon sister band called The Garry’s. Their Saskatchewan surfer vibe was a welcome treat for the 100 weather worshippers in attendance.
The free-range pigs had a lot of character on them this year with an abundance of fat, which means more than average snow. The webs of fat showed that temperatures while being very erratic, will result in a warmer than average winter and spring. Drastic temperature swings again should be more pronounced than normal as we go from frigid cold, to above normal temperatures over a short period of time during the winter months.
There will be likely some odd rain events in January and February temperatures will not start dipping down until mid-January. February will start out cold but will rebound in the second week until mid-month. February 16 could be mild enough for freezing rain and sleet. The pigs predict a dip in temperatures in mid-March again but this will rebound around prior to March 24 and the remaining winter will be milder than normal. May is predicted to be dry with no rain at all in the forecast and with average temperatures. There is expected to be a dip in temperature in June to well below normal until around June 10. Rain in this period will extend through until about June 20.

January 
January will start up warmer than usual until January 15 when temperatures slide below normal. This cold will persist until months end with the exception of one or two days that are extremely mild. Around January 27-29 sleet and freezing rain is in the forecast so when this starts don’t venture out on the highways because it will be very slippery. The mild weather will be very short, and temperatures will very quickly return to below normal. Snow is predicted on January 20 and 26th.

February 
The end of January is colder than normal with the temperatures falling into February at the start. Temperatures will rebound around February 11 (-2 to -10 in daytime) and will remain near normal through to the end of the month. Snow days will be around February 10, 20th, 23rd. Freezing rain is predicted for February 16. The 23rd is predicted to be a larger snowfall for a winter storm. The end of February will see quite a bit of snow between February 28 and into March. In Southwest Saskatchewan, this period is expected to be very mild with some melting.

March 
The end of February and the beginning of March will see seasonal above temperatures, however, there will be a period of about 10 days in the middle of the month that will be very cold. This will rapidly turn around and return to average temperatures on March 24. After this date winter will generally be over, however, the temperatures at the end of the month will be erratic. Expect a fair amount of precipitation on March 8, 10th, 15th(snow/rain) and 30th(rain). The temperature swings in March will be fairly extreme and will bring a lot of wind.

April
The end of March will be average which will persist into April. Temperatures in April will become above average with a major warming trend starting near the end of April. Above average temperatures will not persist into May and there will be a return to average at the end of the month or the start of May. April will see above average precipitation around April 10, 18th to 20th, and April 29.

May 
Temperatures in May will be average to above average with nothing significant showing up on the spleen. There will likely be some precipitation at the very start of May but after this, it will be dry with no further rain.

June 
Temperatures in June will start out average but will drop rapidly at the start of the month. This period of cool and cold temperatures will be accompanied by rain. One rainfall event is predicted on June 11, however, the period between June 5 -20th will be wet in general. There is a big blob of fat on the spleen that shows up in June that indicates a lot of moisture and “ uncomfortable” conditions.

-Contributed by Jeff Woodward 
Pig Spleen Prognosticator