Wind chill and the 2023 Prairie weather summary

Does a -52 C wind chill really mean it is -52 C outside?

I know I promised to dig into a month-by-month summary of last year’s weather across the Prairies, and I will get to it. First, I have received several emails and have overheard plenty of conversations about wind chill over the last week. Some of the emails ask about just what windchill is, but most ask

Forecast: Classic cold mid-winter weather

Forecast issued Jan. 11, 2016, covering the period from Jan. 13, 2016 to Jan. 20, 2016

It’s the middle of winter and, well, it feels like it. While it’s definitely been cold recently, if this ends up being our big shot of cold air for the winter, I think most of us can agree it wasn’t so bad! It does look like the colder-than-average temperatures will continue for at least one


Arctic high pressure continues to dominate

Issued: Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015 – Covering: Feb. 18 – Feb. 25, 2015

Our weather over the last week was dominated by arctic high pressure as predicted, but those highs didn’t track quite the way the weather models indicated they would, resulting in only a mediocre forecast. This issue’s forecast begins where last week’s left off — with cold arctic high pressure dominating. The first and strongest of

Weather pattern becoming more active

Issued: Monday, Nov. 24, 2014 – Covering: Nov. 26 – Dec. 3, 2014

Last week’s forecast didn’t turn out exactly as the weather models predicted. A large storm system moving across the central Prairies last weekend washed out as it moved into Manitoba, and was replaced by a second system that was forecast to move by us to our south. This system became much stronger than forecast and,


Will this be the coldest winter since 1918?

December, January and February have all been below the average just three times

There has been a fair bit of talk and media coverage on the cold weather we, and much of central and eastern North America, have seen so far this winter. For this issue I thought I would dig into the weather data and try to see just how cold we have been. First of all,

More summer-like weather moving in

Last weekend’s storm system ended up being much stronger and slower than anticipated. Fortunately, it looks like this forecast period will see much quieter weather, with more summer-like conditions moving in. By Wednesday of this week the weekend storm system will have pulled well to our east and high pressure will be in place. Wednesday


Not The Coldest Spring Ever

Table 1. January to June mean temperatures Table 2. March to May (C) 2009 Winnipeg Brandon Dauphin Table 3. 2009 versus 1979, mean C Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Mean C 1979 -27.2 -30.9 -14.7 -16.0 -9.4 -6.9 2.7 1.4 7.7 8.2 Dauphin 2009 1.2 0.3 0.3 Mean C 2009 -18.4 15.6 Mean C

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Sleet, Nor Freezing Rain…

Sometimes you just have to seize a teachable moment and take a break from the normal routine of a class, and this week looks to be just that week. While I’m not sure just what will happen with the storm system that is to move through southern and central Manitoba the first two to four