Out like a lamb and in like a lamb

When we have a quiet weather pattern with no strong systems affecting our region, it can sometimes be a little tough in the late winter and early spring to figure out just what will happen in regards to the weather. While last week’s forecast wasn’t too bad, it did miss out on a lot of

Nice weather to end the month

You just have to love Mother Nature. The weather models predicted an area of low pressure would dive through southern and central Manitoba late last Sunday and into Monday. What the models didn’t predict was just how strong the system would get. They also didn’t do that great of a job predicting the strength of


Fairly mild with a chance of snow

The weather over much of North America played out a little differently than expected last week as two major storm systems “took control” of the weather. The first system was the incredibly strong nor’easter that hit much of the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada last weekend. The second system was the strong Colorado low that

Seasonable weather returns

Once again Mother Nature played her own game last week, as the weak system that was forecast to hit southwestern Manitoba last Thursday ended up being stronger and farther north than anticipated. This brought a good five to 10 centimetres of snow to much of southern and central Manitoba late last week. As predicted, the


First big cold snap in two years

Last week’s forecast played out pretty much as expected. The only problem was that the two storm systems ended up being a little stronger than expected. It definitely feels like winter, as we are experiencing the first significant cold snap in almost two years. A fairly strong ridge of high pressure remains in place over

Warm start, cold end to month?

The beginning of the new year is always a busy time when writing about the weather. In the last issue I started writing about the top worldwide weather stories for each month in 2012 and it will take another issue or two to finish that up. Environment Canada has also come out with its top


Plenty of chances for snow

It looks as though this forecast period will be another tough one to figure out. The weather models have been fairly consistent with the general pattern, but are all over the place with the placement of the different systems. So once again, confidence in this forecast is not very high. Temperatures should slowly warm during

Now anyone can be a weather forecaster

The Weather Underground Internet site gives amateurs the tools they need to create their own localized forecasts

It’s been awhile since I’ve discussed weather-related websites, and I figured it was about time to share one of my favourites — The Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com). The Weather Underground is literally the first-ever Internet weather website, and I think it is the best weather website out there. I figured the best way to introduce you


Cold and wet – new pattern?

In the last issue we took a look ahead to see what the winter might have in store for us. In this issue we’re going to take our monthly look back at the weather and then look only a little ahead to try and see what November might bring us weather-wise. Well, I guess we

Problems trying to create winter forecast

Last issue we took a quick look at the different factors that must be taken into account when trying to create a long-range winter weather forecast. For those of you who missed the article, I think it’s easy to summarize it by saying — trying to make a long-range forecast is so complicated that you