October And Winter Weather Outlooks

In a previous issue we discussed what type of winter we might expect, given the current La Nińa conditions over the Pacific Ocean. Now that winter is just around the bend, climatologically speaking, I thought we should revisit our previous La Nińa winter forecast and see just what the latest and greatest long-range forecasters are

Cold, Snowy Winter Or Warm And Dry – for Sep. 23, 2010

Last issue we took a quick look at the atmospheric and oceanic phenomenon know as La Nińa, or, as we pointed out last issue, the anti-El Nińo. Now that we have a bit of an understanding of La Nińa let’s take a look back and see what kind of winters we’ve had the last few


Snow Lake Prepares For Future Boom And Bust

“We’ve gone from a community where we were almost giving property away to where we’re now needing to accommodate people. You can’t do that without proper planning.” – GARRY ZAMZOW, SNOW LAKE MAYOR Snow Lake Mayor Garry Zamzow jokes how he likes hearing his cellphone ring these days. Until last month, Snow Lake had no

Alberta Soils Remain Dry Despite Precipitation

The precipitation that fell in the form of snow over the past few days has done little to alleviate the dry soil moisture conditions across many of the agricultural growing areas in Alberta, according to a crop specialist. “There’s been little accumulation of snow to date and what has fallen has barely been enough to


Issued: Monday, April 5, 2010 Covering: April 7 –April 14

An interesting week last week, as the predicted Friday storm system became much stronger than anticipated, bringing rain and some snow to southern and eastern regions. Then the second storm system predicted for early in the week did develop, but it was not as strong as expected and remained well to our south. During the

Issued: Monday, March 22, 2010 Covering: March 24 –March 31

Spring is always the toughest time of the year for forecasting and this forecast period is going to be no exception. Confidence levels are a little lower than usual for a few reasons. First, with a number of areas having little or no snow cover, sunshine can make a big difference in temperatures. Secondly, this


Weather Email Bag

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Avg. 10.2 9.9 10.7 12.1 12.3 9.1 7.9 8.3 8.5 10.2 10.9 10.4 10.0 Average monthly wind speeds (km/h) The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a B. A. (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the



When Should We Expect The Snow To Melt? – for Mar. 11, 2010

The weather page is prepared by Daniel Bezte. Dan has a BA Honours degree in geography, specializing in climatology, from the U of W. He has taught climate and weather classes at the U of W, and is a guest climate expert on CJOB’s morning show with Larry Updike. Daniel runs a computerized weather station

Move Snow Away From Buildings Before It Melts

Each cubic foot of drifted, piled or compacted snow contains two to three gallons of water, so actions homeowners take now can minimize future water problems in or around their house, says Ken Hellevang, North Dakota State University Extension Service agricultural engineer and flood expert. For example, about 2,500 gallons of water will come from