The weather this month has been unusual, bringing with it a little bit of everything. We've had record-breaking amounts of snow, followed by warm, spring-like temperatures and rain in January.

Local schools have had to keep students inside for recess because of frigid temperatures, and also because it was too warm in January, which made a mess of playgrounds. SCS Principal Emery Plett says it's been an interesting winter so far.

“We've had a number of days where it's been too cold and suddenly we had some weather where it's too warm with rain and water which is odd for us in January. We had a lot of snow that became slushy, and we had a number of areas where puddles formed. We had to keep students inside to keep them from getting too many 'booters'.”

Plett says the rest of the year has been great for students playing outside, with the late winter and warm temperatures the playground had been kept in great shape.

Rod Kehler, Principal at Southwood School says he doesn't ever remember a January like this one. He says last week, “due to the excessive moisture on the playground we had indoor recess. It was difficult for the kids to find a decent place to play. They were always coming in calling home about wet ski pants and that type of thing.”

Kehler says this January they've either had too much water on the playground or they've had ice. “I don't ever remember this happening. We actually had so many kids bumping their heads or slipping and hurting themselves because of ice on the playground, so we're dealing with a different problem outside.”

He notes even though the weather has been unusual it is all a part of dealing with the elements in a Manitoba winter.