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
Soil moisture in Alberta improves after wet fall
Reading Time: < 1 minute Late-October rains caused harvest delays for many, but the three to five millimetres were near to below average. And in most areas south of Red Deer, conditions were quite dry over the first two months of fall. Most areas in the province experienced at least near-normal accumulations of precipitation during September and October, although some […] Read more
Crop insurance payouts soar after drought and hail
The final tally will top $700 million and may reach $900 million, with more than 6,400 hail claims processed already
Reading Time: 3 minutes While yields may be better than expected in many areas, this season’s drought and hail still hit producers hard. Agricultural Financial Services Corporation expects to pay out between $700 million and $900 million in crop insurance payments — a huge increase from the 2014 tally of $370 million. “The payouts are expected to be higher […] Read more
When margins are tight, you need to know where you stand
Calculating your current ratio will tell you if you’re in good shape — or if trouble is heading your way
Reading Time: 2 minutes Commodity prices and the weather have been volatile and expenses are trending upwards because of a weaker Canadian dollar — so now is a good time to review your marketing plan. “If you aren’t paying attention to your marketing plan or don’t have one, you may find yourself with a reduced margin,” said provincial financial […] Read more
Light rains delay harvest, province estimates more than half complete
Alberta crop conditions as of September 29, 2015
Reading Time: 2 minutes Over the weekend, most parts of the province received light rains which were enough to delay harvesting operations. However, producers were able to make better harvest progress this past week than during the previous week. Harvest is estimated to be 58 per cent completed provincially, up 12 per cent from last week. While 25 per […] Read more
Rain slows harvest, producers seeing better than expected yields
Alberta crop conditions as of September 8, 2015
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers were only able to make limited harvest progress this past week as a general rain covered virtually all areas of the province. Beginning Friday of the long weekend, amounts of 35 – 60 mm fell in the South, Central, North East and North West regions while lesser amounts of 15 – 30 mm fell […] Read more
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