Reading Time: 3 minutes I figured I would begin our look back at 2015’s weather from a global perspective and then zoom into North America, Canada, and Western Canada in particular, in an upcoming article. I have to pretty much agree with the top two 2015 global weather stories that nearly every website has come up with — 2015 […] Read more
The global weather stories of the year? Mine are heat and hurricanes
El Niño combined with ongoing global warming to set yet another temperature record and also fuelled major hurricanes and typhoons
The year in numbers — a quick look back at 2015
Two things stand out when reviewing data from across Alberta — it was a little drier than normal and consistently warmer
Reading Time: 2 minutes With the ending of one year and the beginning of a new one, we traditionally take a look back at what was and then look ahead to see what the new year might have in store for us. From a weather point of view there a number of ways we can do this — from […] Read more
When Mother Nature goes to extremes, the consequences are massive
Whether it’s heat or cold, dry or wet, you can only hope these records will stand for a long, long time
Reading Time: 3 minutes Each year Environment Canada puts out its Top 10 weather stories and I like to go through them taking a more western focus. I thought it might be interesting to go back over the last 115 years or so and look at some of the biggest weather stories to hit the Canadian Prairies — according […] Read more
The weather outside hasn’t been frightful, nor has the snow come
It was a warm November across the Prairies, but especially in the Peace and Manitoba
Reading Time: 3 minutes I know I have promised to take a look at big snowfall events for a while now, but I kind of forgot that the end of the month was coming and that is typically when we do our look-back and look-ahead at our Prairie weather. Besides, the way the weather is going it doesn’t look […] Read more
Dreaming of a warm Christmas? El Niño may grant your wish
Winter is still winter, but history says the El Niño phenomenon brings above-average temperatures
Reading Time: 3 minutes After a fairly mild first half of November, things have turned cooler and a little more wintery. While it’s beginning to look like winter might have moved in for good, the long-range models seem to be really hanging their hats on El Niño bringing more above-average temperatures in December and right through the rest of […] Read more
The latest winter outlook and more on cold weather precipitation
October was a pleasant change from September, but will the warmer-than-average weather continue for the rest of the year?
Reading Time: 3 minutes In my last article I said that we’d continue our discussion on cold weather precipitation. But before diving into that icy topic, I want to take a look at the weather so far this fall and see if the long-range winter forecasts have changed. After experiencing a cooler- and wetter-than-average September across pretty much all of agricultural […] Read more
The (super) cool lowdown on how snow is formed
Snow will soon begin to fall but a lot has to happen before clouds are ready to produce the white stuff
Reading Time: 3 minutes As we slowly work our way towards winter I thought it might be time to begin our look at the sometimes dreaded ‘S word’ — snow. Instead of just jumping straight into a discussion about snow I think we’ll take a bit of a slower approach that will hopefully help lessen the pain for some […] Read more
Why does El Niño have such a big impact on our weather?
It’s all about heat and the atmosphere’s aversion to imbalances when it comes to hot and cold
Reading Time: 4 minutes A few weeks ago while waiting for a triathlon to start, a thunderstorm rolled through the region forcing everyone to run for shelter. While listening to people talk during the storm I overheard a weather-related idea or story that I’ve actually been mulling in my head for a while now, but I still haven’t figured […] Read more
Severe summer weather. Taking a look at thunderstorms and wind
Everyone knows what a funnel cloud looks like, but understanding how it forms isn’t easy
Reading Time: 3 minutes In continuing our look at severe thunderstorms, we’ll look at specifically, the most deadly part — tornadoes. What are tornadoes and how do they form? A classic definition of a tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground, which may or may not be visible as a funnel cloud. For […] Read more
Keep watch: How to spot the warning signs of a tornado
A dark area between the storm and the ground, a green tint to the sky, and a line of swirling clouds are all danger signs
Reading Time: 3 minutes This next topic in our look at different types of severe summer weather is severe thunderstorms, and in particular, high winds. When we think of severe thunderstorms one word that should make you worried and nervous is tornado. While tornadoes are the most destructive feature that can occur within a thunderstorm, they are fairly rare, with […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
