Warm July Globally, And Low Sea Ice

The global temperature numbers have been crunched for the month of July and depending on who crunched the data, July was somewhere between the third and sixth warmest on record. Land-based observations had July as the fifth warmest on record, while ocean-based observations had that region as the 11th warmest July on record. Combining the

Arctic Sea Ice At Record Low

I’ll have to admit the biggest request for weather articles lately has been related to all of the rain that some regions have seen over the last few months. If you are one of those people waiting to see just how much rain fell and how it compares to past years, I’m afraid you will


Group Promotes Canada’s Forgotten “Blue Water” Port

Early in The Second World War, Russian forces successfully fended off an attempt by Hitler’s armies to cut off the country’s crucial northern lifeline: the deep sea Port of Murmansk. A huge monument now stands over the harbour in recognition of the fanatical defenders and their battle to keep open a vital route bringing in

Hudson Bay Freeze-Up Late

Around the middle of December I wrote an article discussing the phenomenon becoming known as the upside-down winter or the “hot Arctic, cold continent” winter. The continuation of the unusually snowy weather over much of the central and eastern portions of the U.S., and all the talk about whether it’s being caused by global warming


Researchers Warn Arctic Fishing Under-Reported

The amount of fish caught in the Arctic has been dramatically under-reported for decades, making the northern ocean environment appear far more pristine than it really is, according to a new study. An estimated 950,000 tonnes of fish were caught in Russian, Canadian and U.S. Arctic waters between 1950 and 2006, which is 75 times

Forecast – for Jan. 13, 2011

What was bad weather for Alberta last week was fairly good to us here in Manitoba. A broad region of low pressure developed over Western Canada last week and it decided to stick around. This kept the forecast arctic high and the resulting cold temperatures bottled up north. This persistent region of low pressure kept


New Winter Weather Pattern Normal

As we head into the holiday season, it seems there are some strange things going on with our world’s weather. Some people are describing it as upside-down weather or backward weather, and yet others are simply calling it bizarre weather. Any way you look at it, the weather over the past few weeks in the

Past Weather Does Not Always Mean Future Weather

Early in September I took a quick look at the kind of weather we might expect this winter. In particular, we examined the phenomenon known as La Nińa or the “anti El Nińo.” La Nińa is a cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean and when this occurs it can have an impact on our winter


Possible Change In Weather Pattern

I’m going to start off this week’s article with a quick look at global weather records and patterns so far this year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the first nine months of 2010 have been the warmest ever recorded. If this pattern keeps up, 2010 will go down as the warmest

A Little Bit Of Everything

Table 1. Total rainfall June 17-19, in millimetres ALBERTA Bullhorn Reservoir Pincher Creek Cardston Atlee Waterton Park Schuler Lethbridge Bow Island Vauxhall Medicine Hat Oyen SASKATCHEWAN Cypress Hills Park Maple Creek Leader Val Marie Swift Current Kindersley Saskatoon MANITOBA Killarney Gladstone Pierson Boissevain Hamiota Melita Eriksdale Virden Steinbach 161.7 131.5 129.3 113.4 100.2 97.8 90.5