Weather: Cold start, followed by slow warming trend

Forecast issued Mar. 10, 2023, covering the period from Mar. 15 to Mar. 22, 2023

If you follow the weather and weather forecasting, the last forecast period was interesting. If you have been following my weather articles and forecasts over the years, you know I rarely bash Environment Canada, but I couldn’t help but do a lot of head-scratching last week. Early last week it was forecasting several days of

Forecast probability of temperature above, below and near normal (calibrated) for the period of March, April and May 2023. (Map by Environment and Climate Change Canada)

‘Normal’ spring ahead for most of the Prairies

Below-normal rains expected for southern Alberta, western Saskatchewan

MarketsFarm — Canada’s Prairies are looking at normal temperatures over the next month to three months, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The federal department on Tuesday issued its temperature and precipitation probabilistic forecasts, which also called for normal precipitation for most of the region. “The forecast is really neutral for the Prairies,


Environment Canada’s forecast probabilities of precipitation for the January-through-March period. (Weather.gc.ca)

Colder-than-normal Prairie winter forecast

MarketsFarm — Colder-than-normal temperatures are in the long-range forecast across Western Canada over the next three months, while much of Eastern Canada should be warmer. The latest seasonal forecast from Environment Canada, released Friday, calls for a 50 to 90 per cent chance of below-normal temperatures from January through March for the four western provinces.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, with Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna (l) and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (r), speaks at the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

No credit expected for farmers’ past work in new carbon market

Work on protocols for specific projects to begin this spring, department says

Draft regulations for Canada’s new carbon market show Canadian farmers won’t receive credit for removing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the atmosphere prior to 2017. Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Friday announced the offset market, to be known as the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System. A 60-day public consultation period on draft regulations


Forecast probability of precipitation above, below and near normal for the period from February through April 2021, based on three equiprobable categories from 1981-2010 climatology. Map produced Jan. 31, 2021. (Map: Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Long-range forecast points to cool, wet spring for northern Prairies

MarketsFarm — Central and northern agricultural regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta are forecast to see cooler-than-normal temperatures with above-average precipitation over the next three months, according the latest long-range outlook from Environment Canada. The department’s latest seasonal weather maps, dated Sunday, show a 40-50 per cent chance of above-normal precipitation across most of the northern



What’s your perfect Christmas weather?

What’s your perfect Christmas weather?

A white Christmas on the Prairies is a good bet

Every few years I like to revisit the topic of “perfect Christmas holiday weather.” As we head into this holiday season, with some areas worried about whether it will be a white or brown Christmas, I think it’s appropriate we revisit it again this year. As I went through the last couple of times I



Sunny skies by themselves don’t necessarily lead to a heat wave; we often can see plenty of sunny days in a row without experiencing 
heat-wave conditions.

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

Farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve pulls harvested wheat from a grain bin at the Yukon Grain Farm near Whitehorse on Feb. 19, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Crystal Schick)

Wheat in Whitehorse: How climate change helps feed Canada’s remote regions

Newfoundland and Labrador also pushing to expand arable land base

Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — After failing to grow wheat in the Yukon territory 15 years ago, farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve gave it another shot in 2017. Thanks to longer summers, he has reaped three straight harvests. This spring he plans to sow canola on his family’s 450-acre farm near Whitehorse, a city not much further from