Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s getting pretty late in the winter, and if you’re a Prairie farmer or skier — or maybe both — you might wonder if there’s still a chance for more moisture in the form of snow. As I have mentioned on several occasions over the years, March and April have seen some of our biggest […] Read more
There’s still hope for a spring snowstorm
All three provinces have seen their records set in March or April
Prairie forecast: Mild start, then a chance of storms
Issued Feb. 21, covering Feb. 21 to 28, 2024
Sunshine prevailed a fair bit more over the last forecast period than expected and so did the milder temperatures. Oh, sure there were a couple of cold nights, especially over the eastern half of the prairies, but overall, temperatures ended up being about 2 to 4 C warmer than what was forecasted.
Prairie forecast: Dry and mild west, seasonal east
Issued Feb. 14, covering Feb 14 to 21, 2024
If you haven’t noticed, it has been an unusual winter, and that unusualness is causing all sorts of headaches with weather forecasting. In particular, cloud cover. In the last forecast period, it looked as if high pressure would dominate the weather bringing plenty of clear skies along with more seasonable temperatures.
Anatomy of a cold snap
While the polar vortex is an important trigger for this phenomenon, it's not the only one
Reading Time: 4 minutes I’ve had a couple of really good questions over the last few weeks. One was very timely about the Polar Vortex, and the other was a question about the impact of volcanic activity on our climate, particularly the Tonga volcanic eruption back in January of 2022. Since the polar vortex question is a little more […] Read more
Prairie forecast: Stormy start in the east, slightly cooler west
Issued Feb. 7, covering Feb. 7 to 14, 2024
You can’t say it has been a strange and interesting winter. First, we saw a wintery end to October, then fall moved back in for most of November and December before we finally saw a big old shot winter in mid-January. Now we have been dealing with spring like conditions over the last two weeks – what’s next? Well, it looks like winter is going to try and make a comeback.
Prairie forecast: A little more heat, then slow cool down
Issued Jan. 31, 2024. Covers Jan. 31 to Feb. 7
The big question for this forecast period is whether these mild temperatures will continue, or we see a return to more seasonable mid-winter temperatures? All I can say is that spring isn’t quite here yet.
Prairie forecast: Warm weather returns
Issued Jan. 24, 2024, covering Jan. 24 to 31
For this forecast period, it looks like our weather pattern will undergo a shift back to the mild pattern we experienced at the beginning of the winter. It also looks like the warm weather will stick around for at least a couple of weeks. The million-dollar question is whether we will see another outbreak of cold arctic air, or will we see an early start to spring? Well, if I knew that answer to that, I would be rich, but I don’t think winter is over quite yet.
Prairie forecast: More typical mid-winter weather
Issued Jan. 17, covering Jan. 17 to 24
For this forecast period it looks like it'll simply be winter--not bone chilling cold, but not springtime warm. The general pattern that appears to be developing across the prairies is showing warm air trying to push northeastwards out of the western U.S., but with a northwesterly flow across the prairies, it looks like there will be a parade of cold, arctic high-pressure systems dropping southeastwards every few of days. The question is, just how far north will the warm air push, or for far south will the arctic air push?
Prairie forecast: Frigid temperatures moving in
Issued Jan. 10, 2024, covering Jan 10 to 17
Coldest temperatures look to be over the western prairies but there looks to be some relief from the really cold temperatures early next week. With cold arctic high pressure dominating, little in the way of snow is expected during this forecast period.
Prairie forecast: Winter temperatures moving in
Issued Jan. 03, covering: Jan. 3 – 10
Looking at this forecast period, the best way I can describe it is that we will be seeing a slow slide into more seasonal temperatures. The persistent upper-level ridging that brought warm--and record warm temperatures--to much of the prairies in December has broken down. The weather models are showing a trough of low pressure developing over the west coast over the next seven days.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
