Be prepared when travelling in cold weather

From a safety and health perspective, extreme cold can be deadly if you were to become stranded after a vehicle stalls. The best thing we can do is be prepared with water, food and other supplies in the event of vehicle problems. Nutritionally, we can survive without food for days, but staying hydrated is a

Winter takes care of horses

CAROL SHWETZ DVM Tracking body condition by placing your hands on the horse to feel through the thick winter coat will tell you whether its body condition is adequate. A horse’s lifestyle changes in winter. It must. His external environment changes. The outside changes initiate changes to the inside of the horse that affect his


Be safe when doing snow removal

To hold in body heat, try wool or polypropylene instead of cotton as the inner layer. Winter is well underway, so this is a good time to review some snow removal tips, whether you use a snowblower or a shovel. Proceed with caution with winter activities and follow your health-care provider’s advice, especially if you

Warm and dry or cold and wet in 2009?

As we begin a new year, instead of looking back at what the weather was like during 2008, let us peer into the “weatherperson’s” crystal ball and see what the weather might have in store for us in 2009. To do this I usually rely on four different long-range weather forecasts: Environment Canada (EC), the





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

THE MAGIC OF WINTER

Imagine the magic of a fresh blanket of white, With snowflakes large and small falling, falling. Chances are, the snow may continue into the night, As it slowly, slowly acquires a sense of belonging. The bare trees and branches begin to bend, With the weight of the newly fallen snow. Park benches are covered from


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

First Midwest snow complicates remaining harvest

U. S. Midwest farmers who still have corn in their fields got a grim reminder last week that their harvest window was closing fast as the first snowfall of the season fell on parts of the western corn belt Nov. 7. Storms that dropped one to three inches of snow on parts of Iowa and