La Niña And Sunspots

From a weather and agricultural point, I find this time of year to be the most difficult. Winter is still holding on, but historically we don’t see much in the way of severe weather during the second half of February. Spring is on the horizon, but is still at least three to four weeks away

Climate Change Brings Stronger Storms

Witnesses to Cyclone Yasi’s destructive tear across northeastern Australia described it as a monster for its size and ferocity. It was also an omen. Climate scientists say global warming is heating up the world’s oceans and atmosphere, providing more fuel for tropical cyclones and creating ever-greater risks for crops, miners and billion-dollar beachfronts. The risks


Forecast – for Dec. 23, 2010

It is looking more likely that this year’s holiday season will be a quiet one, at least weather-wise. The main weather maker during this period will be a large area of high pressure that is forecasted to take up residence over much of central North America. High pressure will begin to build into our region

Forecast – for Dec. 16, 2010

This forecast period starts off a little tricky as the models are forecasting an area of low pressure to our west with a ridge of high pressure persisting to our east. The question is how far east the western low will be able to push and just where any snow will fall. Currently it looks


Don’t Shoot The Messenger

If you happen to be one of those people who likes to complain about the weather, and you spent the summer in the western Prairies, chances are you hit the mother lode. For producers trying to “mud in” late crops, or bale soggy forages, the challenges were many. In many areas, it was just one

Forecast – for Nov. 4, 2010

Now that the Super Storm of 2010 has finally moved out of our region, it looks like we’ll see some nice late-fall weather move in. Considering the size of the last storm, this period of nice weather is kind of unusual. What I mean by that is that such a large and deep area of


Possible Change In Weather Pattern

I’m going to start off this week’s article with a quick look at global weather records and patterns so far this year. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the first nine months of 2010 have been the warmest ever recorded. If this pattern keeps up, 2010 will go down as the warmest

Forecast – for Oct. 14, 2010

Last week’s forecast turned out to be pretty good. If anything, the weather ended up being even nicer than we thought it might be. Temperatures over the long weekend were above the long-term average and the only part of the forecast which was off a bit was that the area of low pressure forecast for


Issued: Monday, August 9, 2010 Covering: August 11 –August 18

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans to

Forecast – for Aug. 12, 2010

The Weather Vane is prepared by Daniel Bezte, a teacher by profession with a BA (Hon.) in geography, specializing in climatology, from the University of Winnipeg. Daniel has taught university-level classes in climate and weather and currently operates a computerized weather station at his home near Birds Hill Park, on 10 acres he plans to