First off, I must apologize for not producing an update to the last forecast; I had the opportunity to do some backwoods camping, which meant I was off the grid for about five days. I’m back now, and from the weather model runs I’ve been able to check out, this forecast period is going to […] Read more

Prairie Forecast: Cooler and unsettled
Issued Aug. 9, covering Aug. 9 to 16

Pulse weekly outlook: Average yields expected for Manitoba crops
Beans, soy may still benefit if rain comes
MarketsFarm — Pulse crops in Manitoba fared well against the elements which included sporadic rainfall and normal to below-normal temperatures for much of the past month. Provincial pulse specialist Dennis Lange in Altona said field peas should begin harvesting operations next week. “As far as pea acres go, we’re looking at about 145,000 acres. That’s […] Read more

Prairie forecast: Warm-hot start then slow cooldown
Issued August 2, covering August 2 to 9
The weather models have been doing a good job with the overall weather picture over the last several weeks, despite a fairly unsettled, tough-to-figure-out weather pattern. In this next forecast period, it will again be tough to figure out some of the finer details as our region experiences weak highs, lows, and even the possibility […] Read more

Updated prairie forecast: unsettled start as sub-arctic high builds in
Issued July 26, covers July 26 to August 2
Update: A low tracking through central prairies is a little weaker than expected. This will result in less precipitation with showers, thundershowers, and storms being less widespread. Another issue is the smoke which can be difficult to predict. Areas with smoke we see cooler than expected daytime highs. An upper ridge that brought plenty of […] Read more

Prairie Forecast: Summer heat to build back in
Issued July 19, covering July 19 to 26
It looks like the overall weather pattern is going to undergo another shift. After nearly two weeks of unseasonably cool and unsettled weather over the eastern half of the Prairies, with near-average conditions over the west, it looks like more typically summer weather will move back in. The massive area of low pressure that spun […] Read more

Prairie Forecast Update: Low pushes southeast instead
The area of low pressure that was predicted to develop over central Alberta on Monday, July 17th still looks on track to develop. This will mean clouds and showers over north-central regions of Alberta late on Monday and into early Tuesday. There may be some thunderstorms overnight Monday over south-central regions. This low was originally […] Read more

Weather outlook not great for Prairie crops
U.S. northern Plains in a similar boat
MarketsFarm — Just when crops across the Canadian Prairies need rain, the outlook to the end of July according to Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. pointed to conditions getting hotter and drier. “It does not look really good at the moment. We are going to see below normal rainfall and warmer than normal temperatures […] Read more

Prairie Forecast: Large Hudson Bay low dominates
Forecast issued July 12, covering July 12-19
As the weather models correctly predicted, a large and extremely strong area of low pressure formed over Hudson Bay during the last forecast period, bringing the expected cool and unsettled weather to the eastern half of the Prairies. Over the western half of the Prairies a weak upper-level ridging brought, for the most part, sunny […] Read more

Much of Canada abnormally dry or in moderate drought
Southern Ontario among exceptions
MarketsFarm — In a stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, a wide swath of Canada was contending with dryness, according to the latest report from the Canadian Drought Monitor. As of June 30, about 60 per cent of the country was abnormally dry to being in a moderate drought, with 76 per cent […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn drop on improved crop weather
CBOT September wheat also down
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures fell on Friday as recent welcome rains across the Midwest farm belt, and forecasts for more next week, aided crops that had been suffering under an early season drought. Soybeans, which notched a four-month high on Monday, ended down 1.9 per cent for the week, while […] Read more