This time we’ll continue our look at severe thunderstorms, and specifically, the most deadly part: tornadoes. Before diving into this, there are a couple of weather stories I have to touch on. First, tied into our discussion on thunderstorms, a stalled frontal system across southeastern Manitoba from June 6 to 8 allowed for several rounds of thunderstorms to
Weather school: Funnel clouds and tornadoes
There needs to be a pool of cold air aloft before a cold air funnel can form
Forecast: Summer weather is moving in
Covering the period from June 17 to June 24
Well, last week’s storm system, which combined with the remnants of tropical storm Cristobal, ended up playing out pretty close to what the weather models predicted. The timing of some of the features was off by a day or so, but overall, they did a good job. For this forecast period, it looks like we should be done with these
Weather School: What makes storms severe?
Much of our summer rainfall is from typical, rather than severe, thunderstorms
A couple of weeks ago we talked about what it takes to form severe thunderstorms: heat, humidity, lift, and some way to vent the air at the top of the storm. This time we’ll take a look at what takes a severe thunderstorm and turns it into a thunderstorm to truly remember, or maybe forget.
Forecast: Cool weather and an unsettled start
Covering the period from June 10 to June 17
The weather models did a fairly decent job with last article’s general weather outlook. I am hoping, for this outlook — at least for the first half — that the models are off, as it looks like a cool and wet start. There is a little bit of uncertainty with the early part of this forecast, as it’s quite
Can we expect a warmer-than-average June and July?
Computer models point to near-average temperatures for those months
Well, another month has come and gone as the world around us slowly begins a transition back toward normalcy. The end of the month means it’s time to take a look back, then peer forward to see what the next month or two may have in store for us, at least weather-wise. So, we’ll take a break from our annual look at thunderstorms and pull
Forecast: Summer weather, finally
Covering the period from June 3 to June 10
Last article’s general weather outlook was not too bad. The only part that was off a bit was the cool air that worked its way into our region late last week. The weather models originally had the cool air staying to our northeast, but the upper low that tracked through north-central Manitoba last week ended up being
Weather school: What creates a thunderstorm?
A large difference in temperature between two areas is needed for a storm to form
It’s thunderstorm season, and while we haven’t seen any big storms so far this year, the heat seems to have moved in, so it is only a matter of time! We are going to begin with the same issue I bring up every year, which is how people mix up weather watches and weather warnings. Basically, when we
Forecast: Warm weather with increasing humidity
Covering the period from May 27 to June 3
The main area of low pressure that the models forecasted to impact our region during the last forecast period did materialize, but it ended up taking a much more westerly route than expected. In fact, the low retrograded or moved from east to west a little bit. This meant the rainfall from this system fell
Weather school: General atmospheric circulation
Our planet’s rotation sets up a much more complex pattern of worldwide winds
Before wrapping up our weather school look at winds and working our way into general atmospheric circulation, I figured I should try to give a quick explanation of what has been driving our recent bout of cold weather. The jet stream — a narrow band of rapidly flowing air in the upper atmosphere, which usually
Forecast: Summer weather tries to move in
Covering the period from May 20 to May 27
There was a little discrepancy in last week’s weather outlook. We had more clouds and showers early on, before the predicted milder air finally moved in over the long weekend. The strong area of low pressure predicted to begin affecting our region May 18 to 20 is still on track as I’m writing this, but