Thunderstorms: Starting with the basics

Let’s first look at how the energy from the sun gets back up into the skies

With temperatures slowly starting to heat up across the Prairies, thoughts turn towards summer and summer weather, and in my case, I begin thinking about thunderstorms. After a very active summer last year, I thought it might be time to start looking at this topic again. I also thought it would be a good idea

Weather prediction for the week? Warm, with a chance of storms

Issued: Monday, August 10, 2015 – Covering: August 12 – August 19, 2015

Last week’s forecast got the general big picture right, but had trouble with the timing and behaviour of the upper low that moved through our region late last week and into the early weekend. For this forecast period it looks like we’ll start off sunny and hot, with a building upper ridge of high pressure


The result of a severe thunderstorm on the afternoon of Saturday June 27 that hit near the Roseisle area west of Carman. Many fields in the area were destroyed or damaged by hail including this corn field south of Roseisle along PR 240.

VIDEO: MASC still assessing hail-damaged crops in Roseisle-Miami area

A hail storm damaged or destroyed some crops June 27

Crop insurance officials were still assessing the damage Monday caused by a vicious hail storm that hit the Roseisle-Miami area the afternoon of June 27. As of noon Monday the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) had received around 100 claims province-wide, David Van Deynze, MASC’s manager of claim services said in an interview. About half

Mix of sun and scattered thundershowers

Issued: Monday, June 22, 2015 – Covering: June 24 – July 1, 2015

This forecast period is starting off much like the last one. The general flow of the atmosphere is fairly zonal, which means a strong west-to-east flow. Sometimes it’s coming a little out of the northwest, which results in slightly cooler conditions, and sometimes it veers a little southwest, which means warmer weather. The trouble is,


Weather forecast period sees Prairies stuck between storm tracks

Issued: Monday, June 15, 2015 – Covering: June 17 – June 24, 2015

The general weather pattern hasn’t changed much since the last forecast. We are still stuck in a split flow, with the northern stream across the central/northern Prairies and the southern stream across the northern U.S. As systems move along both of these tracks and interact, the split flow will sag slightly southward or drift a