Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Precipitation is a vital aspect of Earth’s climate and plays a significant role in shaping our environment. From gentle drizzles to heavy snowfall, precipitation comes in various forms, each with unique characteristics and formation conditions. This week we’ll delve into different types of precipitation and the atmospheric conditions necessary for their creation. […] Read more
Precipitation and atmospheric temperature profiles
The precipitation we receive depends on the air it meets along the way
Prairie forecast: Average to above average temperatures to continue
Issued Dec. 6, covering Dec. 6 to Dec. 13
With no big storm system impacting our region, the weather models have been doing a good job with the forecasts over the last few weeks. As we start to move closer and closer towards the middle of winter, the longer we can keep the warm air around, the shorter we can hope winter will be. With that said, here is what the big picture is looking like over the next seven or so days.
Prairie Forecast: Quiet, mild start to December
Issued Nov. 29, covering Nov. 29 to Dec. 6
The last forecast played out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting, with one small deviation: temperatures ended up being about 2 to 4 C warmer than forecasted. This will be something to keep in mind as we look at this week’s forecast. The forecast is looking rather quiet for this time of […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Winter temperatures try to move in
Issued Nov. 22, covering Nov. 22-29
There is a large, deep area of low pressure spinning over the northern half of Hudson Bay along with a building area of high pressure over the Yukon. The counterclockwise rotation around the Hudson Bay low will create a north to northwesterly flow across the Prairies. This will allow the Yukon high to drop southward. […] Read more
Prairie forecast: One more shot of warm weather?
Issued Nov. 14, covering Nov. 15 to 18
It looks like the well above average temperatures that flooded across the prairies over the last week or so will be coming to an end, at least eventually. The good news is that it doesn't look like it will be an abrupt end with well below average temperatures moving in.
Global temperature records shattered
The data demonstrates a clear and undeniable climate trend line
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s time to talk about record-breaking temperatures. Not daily records, not records for a city or a country, but global temperature records. You may have read an article or two about how September shattered the global record for warmest month. August was also the warmest on record, globally speaking. It looks like 2023 will be […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: False start to winter as mild air returns
Issued Nov. 7, covering Nov. 8 to 15
It looks more and more as though our late-October cold snap and snowy conditions were indeed a false start to winter. In the last forecast I mentioned the really cold air looks to be bottled up well to our north, and it was and will be for the next week or two. You can get […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Nice, quiet early-winter weather
Issued Nov. 1, covering Nov. 1 to 8
Interesting weather pattern setting up across the Prairies during this forecast period. Well, maybe “interesting” isn’t the right word; “boring” might be a better one. What I mean by “interesting” is just how quickly we swung from a warm fall pattern to a cool winter pattern. Low temperatures across the Prairies over the last week […] Read more
Prairie Forecast Update: Warmer air not in the cards
Issued Oct. 29, covering Oct. 29 to Nov. 1
The forecast for this period has been playing out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting, but with a few small differences. For Alberta, the forecasted upper ridge does not look like it will get nearly as strong as originally forecasted as a strong northwesterly flow helps to flatten the ridge. This means […] Read more
Textbook El Niño winter this year?
There are no absolutes when it comes to an predicting this weather pattern, only probabilities
Reading Time: 3 minutes Here is a quick summary of last summer’s weather across the Prairies – June to the end of August. Alberta saw a consistently warm summer with all three months having above average temperatures. Edmonton reported a mean monthly temperature of around 18 C, which was about 3 C warmer than average. Calgary was next warmest, […] Read more