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Prairie forecast: More much-needed moisture expected

Issued Feb. 29, covering Feb. 29 to March 6, 2024

Reading Time: 4 minutes Cold Arctic air has invaded the Prairies much to many people’s surprise. We have gotten so used to mild spring-like weather that some people may be put off that winter has returned. For those who read my last column, this type of weather shouldn't be surprising since we are now moving into what can be the snowiest time of the year.


Prairie forecast update: Storms roll in

Prairie forecast update: Storms roll in

Updates forecast issued Feb. 21, 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes The weather models are coming into agreement with up coming storm system. The low was forecasted to develop over southern Alberta on Sunday with widespread snow developing to the north and west of the low. This placed the Edmonton region in the main snow band with 10 or so centimetres forecasted to fall across this region. The snow should move out quickly on Monday as cold arctic air pours southwards behind the low dropping temperatures to below average, but only for a couple of day.

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Prairie forecast: Mild start, then a chance of storms

Issued Feb. 21, covering Feb. 21 to 28, 2024

Reading Time: 4 minutes Sunshine prevailed a fair bit more over the last forecast period than expected and so did the milder temperatures. Oh, sure there were a couple of cold nights, especially over the eastern half of the prairies, but overall, temperatures ended up being about 2 to 4 C warmer than what was forecasted.


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Prairie forecast: Dry and mild west, seasonal east

Issued Feb. 14, covering Feb 14 to 21, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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.

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El Nino waning, La Nina to develop in second half of 2024

La Nina likely to affect production of wheat, corn in US, soybeans, corn in Latin America, analyst says

Reading Time: 2 minutes The La Nina weather pattern could emerge in the second half of 2024, quickly after El Nino transitions into ENSO-neutral conditions in the middle of this year, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday.


File photo of winter wheat plants in snow. (Volodymyr Shtun/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie forecast: Stormy start in the east, slightly cooler west

Issued Feb. 7, covering Feb. 7 to 14, 2024

Reading Time: 4 minutes 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.

Warm seasonal outlook across country

Warm seasonal outlook across country

Precipitation expected to be normal across most of Canada

Reading Time: < 1 minute 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.



 Photo: Thinkstock

Prairie forecast: Warm weather returns

Issued Jan. 24, 2024, covering Jan. 24 to 31

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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.


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