It seems that pretty much every summer I have to stop and explain to different people just how humidity works and why on a hot summer day when the humidity is in the 50-60 per cent range it is humid even though it doesn’t sound like it is. So, in this issue I am going
Weather school: Relative humidity
The term ‘relative humidity’ is probably one of the most misunderstood in weather-speak
Forecast: Warm, humid, chance of thunderstorms
Covering the period from July 29 to August 5
Overall, the weather models seem to have a pretty good handle on the general weather pattern across our region. The last forecast worked out pretty well, with the usual differences in some of the timings of systems, and as always it can be difficult to predict just when or where thunderstorms will develop. For this
Weather school: Sunshine and sinking air
A heat wave is a meteorological event but its impact on people is key
As we continue our look at the meteorology behind heat waves, I figured we should first define what a heat wave is, then look at the criteria that Environment Canada uses to define heat events. Poking around a little, the best definition I could find is: “A basic definition of a heat wave implies that it is
Forecast: Above-average temperatures continue
Covering the period from July 22 to July 29
After a bit of a break from the really warm temperatures we saw during the first week or so of July, it looks like the heat will try to build back in during this forecast period as an upper ridge builds over the central U.S. The big question is, just how far north will this
Weather school: Understanding heat waves, Part 1
A blocking pattern left parts of Manitoba under the influence of a hot ridge of high pressure
Most areas felt the effects of the early-summer heat wave that brought high daytime temperatures and even warmer overnight temperatures as well as some high humidities, light winds and, for some of you, torrential rains, so I thought we should re-examine a topic I seem to be revisiting every year or two: blocking patterns. Early this year in weather school I talked about
Forecast: Warm with a chance of storms
Covering the period from July 15 to July 22
Once again, the weather models did an OK job with the last forecast. What’s fairly typical in the summer is that the timing of systems ended up drifting off by several days. For this forecast period, the weather models show a large area of low pressure — an upper low — slowly drifting across the north-central Prairies. This
Are we facing a warm, wet summer?
The almanacs are calling for a warmer- and drier-than-average July
What a month June turned out to be — and for many of you, it was really not a good month. It’s time to take a break from our usual weather programming and stop to look back at last month’s weather, then see what the different weather prognosticators say about the rest of the summer.
Forecast: Warm with a chance of storms
Covering the period from July 8 to July 15
The weather models got the heat and humidity correct with last week’s forecast; what they missed was the western boundary of the hot, humid air. That boundary ended up being a little farther east than forecasted, which resulted in unsettled conditions that dominated the weather over western Manitoba and led to some historic rain events. For this forecast period,
Forecast: Hot and humid weather to continue
Last week’s forecast was a little more on track, with the prediction of hot and humid air; only problem was, the heat and humidity moved in a little earlier than expected. This forecast period is looking very much like the dog days of summer: plenty of sunshine, lots of heat and a fair bit of
Weather school: A last look at tornadoes
The weather computer has called for 'kite-flying weather' nearly every day lately
As we move into summer across Manitoba, thunderstorms and, in particular, severe thunderstorms have begun to rear their ugly heads. This week we’ll look at tornadoes, but instead of me rambling on and giving you a technical breakdown of tornadoes — how they form, what to look for, safety, et cetera — I am going to use a series of amazing