Reading Time: 4 minutes In January, Alberta’s government invested $3.5 million to make the province more drought and flood resistant. Rebecca Schulz, minister of environment and protected areas, said it has never been more important to improve the resiliency of Alberta’s watersheds. “By working with local communities and partners, we are helping mitigate the impact of future floods and […] Read more
Grants designed to combat drought and flooding
Province puts up funds to make watersheds and farmers more resilient
Prairie forecast: Dry and mild west, seasonal east
Issued Feb. 14, covering Feb 14 to 21, 2024
If you haven’t noticed, it has been an unusual winter, and that unusualness is causing all sorts of headaches with weather forecasting. In particular, cloud cover. In the last forecast period, it looked as if high pressure would dominate the weather bringing plenty of clear skies along with more seasonable temperatures.
Project to help water users improve watershed planning
Irrigation projects will be among the proposals evaluated using the new model
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The organization that represents Alberta’s irrigation districts is spearheading a project that will better allow stakeholders in the South Saskatchewan River Basin to improved watershed planning. The project will use the South Saskatchewan River Operational Model (SSROM) to determine how to best develop infrastructure to benefit Albertans, said Margo Jarvis Redelback, executive […] Read more
Prairie forecast: Stormy start in the east, slightly cooler west
Issued Feb. 7, covering Feb. 7 to 14, 2024
You can’t say it has been a strange and interesting winter. First, we saw a wintery end to October, then fall moved back in for most of November and December before we finally saw a big old shot winter in mid-January. Now we have been dealing with spring like conditions over the last two weeks – what’s next? Well, it looks like winter is going to try and make a comeback.
Prairie water users watch mountain snowpack
Alberta officials say the region’s moisture shortage remains dire but stress the situation could easily turn itself around
Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The best greeting for farmers attending the recent Irrigation Production Conference was the dump of snow outside the Agri-Food Hub and Trade Centre in Lethbridge. Inside, the need for that type of precipitation was laid bare in order to avoid a water shortage this year. The numbers tell the tale as to […] Read more
Warm seasonal outlook across country
Precipitation expected to be normal across most of Canada
Warmer than normal temperatures are expected to continue across all of Canada through the next three months, according to the latest long-range seasonal forecast from Environment and Climate Change Canada, released Jan. 31.
Prairie forecast: A little more heat, then slow cool down
Issued Jan. 31, 2024. Covers Jan. 31 to Feb. 7
The big question for this forecast period is whether these mild temperatures will continue, or we see a return to more seasonable mid-winter temperatures? All I can say is that spring isn’t quite here yet.
Alberta dwarfs the Prairies in hail claims
It’s not just because we get more hail, says crop insurance expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes When a province has a huge chunk of its geography referred to as “hailstorm alley,” it’s not surprising crop producers would get a lot of payouts for hail damage. But does that alone explain why total insurance payouts for hail damage in Alberta are about seven times more than the other Prairie provinces? According to […] Read more
Prairie forecast: Warm weather returns
Issued Jan. 24, 2024, covering Jan. 24 to 31
For this forecast period, it looks like our weather pattern will undergo a shift back to the mild pattern we experienced at the beginning of the winter. It also looks like the warm weather will stick around for at least a couple of weeks. The million-dollar question is whether we will see another outbreak of cold arctic air, or will we see an early start to spring? Well, if I knew that answer to that, I would be rich, but I don’t think winter is over quite yet.
Prairie forecast: More typical mid-winter weather
Issued Jan. 17, covering Jan. 17 to 24
For this forecast period it looks like it'll simply be winter--not bone chilling cold, but not springtime warm. The general pattern that appears to be developing across the prairies is showing warm air trying to push northeastwards out of the western U.S., but with a northwesterly flow across the prairies, it looks like there will be a parade of cold, arctic high-pressure systems dropping southeastwards every few of days. The question is, just how far north will the warm air push, or for far south will the arctic air push?
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
