Year in review: How did 2019’s weather measure up?

The short answer is that the year just past was cooler and drier than average

As we pass the end of another calendar year, it is time to take a look back at the past year’s weather to see how everything added up. Before I zoom into Manitoba, let’s take a quick look at the global picture. November’s global temperature numbers have just been released and three of the five

ICE November 2019 canola with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola values stay rangebound

MarketsFarm — One canola trader wouldn’t go so far as to calling the canola market lifeless, but it has remained rangebound for most of the week. That’s mainly due to pressure from harvest activity, which has carried on at an impressive pace on the Canadian Prairies despite being mired with difficult weather conditions. “I’ve talked


Alberta snow further delays canola harvest, boosts prices

Alberta snow further delays canola harvest, boosts prices

MarketsFarm — Canola futures finished up at Monday’s close, boosted by a weather premium after a low-pressure system brought considerable snowfall to parts of Alberta over the weekend. Snow was mostly concentrated in the southern region of the province. Calgary and surrounding areas received around 30 centimetres of snow, according to preliminary results from Environment

Bezte: Cool summer, cool fall?

Bezte: Cool summer, cool fall?

Another month has come and gone and in the weather world, summer is slowly coming to an end. That means it’s time to take a look back at the weather over the past month and to summarize what the three key summer months brought us, weather-wise, across the Prairies. Then, as usual, we’ll take our


Forecast: A couple of chances for precipitation

The weather models did a pretty good job forecasting the deep late-summer low that brought significant rains to large parts of Manitoba two weekends ago and into the first half of last week. The brisk northerly flow behind the low did keep temperatures on the cool side, with daytime highs struggling to make it into

(Thamyrissalgueiro/iStock/Getty Images)

Abrupt mid-March shift into spring predicted

Winter conditions are expected to remain the norm across the Canadian Prairies through the middle of March, when a sudden pattern change brings an abrupt start to spring, according to the latest seasonal forecast from The Weather Network. The quick move from cold to warm conditions raises the risk of flooding in areas with a



Corn west of Mitchell, Man. on Oct. 17, 2018. (Dave Bedard photo)

Ready, set go! Harvest reprieve hits Prairies

CNS Canada — Prairie farmers struggling to get crops off fields under wet, cold conditions are about to get a reprieve — if they haven’t seen warmer weather already in their area. Natalie Hasell, a weather preparedness meteorologist for Environment Canada in Winnipeg, said most regions of British Columbia, Alberta, and southern and central Saskatchewan



Speckled pods are a sign of light or moderate frost damage. (Canola Council of Canada photo)

First widespread frost lands on Prairies

CNS Canada — Farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are waiting nervously for damage reports from Tuesday night’s frost. In Manitoba, fields between Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park were hit with sustained frosts. “There are a few areas where they had a long duration of a light frost and that’s as bad