Looking back at 2008

With 2008 coming to an end, the year overall turned out to be cooler and wetter than average, with all three of our major stations (Winnipeg, Brandon, and Dauphin) repor ting a mean annual temperature that was around 1.5C below the long-term average. Precipitation was also above average for the year, with all three stations



Cold facts about wind chill

As we slowly move toward the heart of winter, I felt it was a good time to take a quick look at wind chill. When we indicate the temperature outside, we are talking about the actual temperature of the air, but depending on the conditions, this may or may not be a true indication of




Warm and wet or warm and dry

The next question is – what will December have in store for us this year? After a spring and summer period that saw five months in a row with below-average monthly temperatures, we have now almost finished a complete 180. Since August, we have experienced four months in a row with above-average temperatures. This has


Heavy rain threatens Australia’s wheat crop quality

Australia’s wheat growers, reeling from years of drought, now face a new problem, with heavy rainfall provoking concern about the quality of the 2008-09 crop. The 2008-09 wheat harvest now underway has been disrupted by downpours in some key crop-growing regions in eastern parts of the country, including the northwest of New South Wales state




Snow, how much and how often

Some of you may have noticed that during the early part of fall, and again in the spring, I include with the forecast the probability of precipitation falling in the form of snow. By the middle to the end of November that probability is usually over 90 per cent, so I no longer include it