This map shows the total amount of precipitation that fell across the Prairies compared to average during the 30-day period ending on June 9. It is evident that this has been a fairly active period, with a large portion of all three Prairie provinces showing near- to above-average amounts of rainfall. The wettest regions were found in Alberta, stretching from Grande Prairie southeastwards towards Coronation and western Saskatchewan and southeastern Saskatchewan to southwestern Manitoba. Interestingly, north-central Saskatchewan was very dry during this period.

It’s that time of year when severe summer weather and tornadoes can form

Tornadoes have occurred in nearly all regions of Canada — 
here is what to look for when a severe storm is approaching

Reading Time: 3 minutes As we enter the peak season for severe weather across the Canadian Prairies, I figured now would be a good time to continue our look at severe weather and tornadoes. While Alberta doesn’t see the same number of tornadoes relative to areas to the east and south, the province is still subject to these events. Before […] Read more

These bins were anchored with cables, but the cables snapped when the bins started rocking when winds in the Bonnyville area gusted to 130 kilometres an hour in January 2014.

Beat high winds by anchoring your bins

More extreme weather coupled with modern bins that are taller and lighter is a recipe for trouble

Reading Time: 3 minutes It doesn’t matter what side of the climate change debate you’re on, few producers would deny that, for whatever reason, weather is getting more extreme. Between hurricane-force winds and the generally lighter and taller designs of many modern grain bins, there seems to be more instances of grain bins being knocked over or otherwise damaged. […] Read more


Severe summer weather. Taking a look at thunderstorms and wind

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

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


Farming Smarter has created a hail simulator — dog chains attached to a bar that can be attached to a front-end loader — to create a reasonable imitation of hail damage.

Researchers invent their own version of the great white combine

Farming Smarter has created a hail simulator so it can test ‘hail rescue’ treatments

Reading Time: 3 minutes What can you do when your crops get pounded by hail? How do crops recover from hail damage? There are a lot of questions about this subject, and little information available. That’s why the team at Farming Smarter developed its own hail damage simulation machine, which it unveiled at the organization’s recent field school. “We […] Read more

weather precipitation map

Beginning our look at severe summer weather

Knowing an alert from a watch or a warning will help keep you informed, and safe

Reading Time: 3 minutes Usually around this time of the year I start my annual look at severe summer weather, but before we dive into that topic, the global March temperatures are in and the planet has beat another record. March 2015, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was the warmest March since records began […] Read more