Relative humidity, dew point and rainfall

Meteorology 101: Warmer oceans and warmer air mean generally greater humidity

For our latest instalment of Meteorology 101, I lump together two summer weather events: rainfall and humidity, which each have associated advisories and warnings. Humidity, by its simplest definition, is the amount of water vapour in the air. The warmer the air, the greater the distance between air molecules and the greater the holding capacity for water vapour. Due

Vehicles leave Yellowknife on Aug. 16, 2023 on the only highway in or out of the city after a state of emergency was declared due to the proximity of wildfire. (Photo: Reuters/Pat Kane)

Prairie Forecast: Upper ridge to bring the heat

Issued Aug. 16, covering Aug. 16-23

After going through a couple of weeks of tough forecasting, with little agreement among the weather models, this forecast period is looking a little more stable with the two main weather models for our region in basic agreement. We start off this forecast with a low over Manitoba that is quickly moving east. To the


Table 3: Percentage Harvest Completion by Crop and Region to Aug. 15, 2023 (crops still unharvested, or negligible acres displayed as – or omitted from this table).

Harvest in Manitoba at three per cent, wheat crop mostly fair to good

Manitoba Crop Report: Issue 14 (week 33)

Overview  Harvest progress sits at 3 per cent complete across the province (table above), which is on-par with the 5-year average harvest progress. Winter wheat and fall rye harvest continues, with 67 per cent of acres harvested. Early yield reports for winter wheat are averaging about 60 bu/acre. Harvest has started in spring cereal crops,

Smoke rises from a wildfire near Wildwood, Alta., about 100 km west of Edmonton, on May 5, 2023. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

Alberta farmers granted late AgriStability entry

Enrolment deadline now Sept. 29

Any Alberta producers who were considering AgriStability — but only in hindsight — for the income stabilization plan’s 2023 program year now have until Sept. 29 to apply. Ottawa and the province announced Aug. 4 that they’ve reopened the jointly-funded program, as wildfires and/or “extremely dry” growing conditions have dragged on many Alberta producers’ work


(Alicat/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast Update: Low to chug through mid-week

Issued Aug. 13, covering Aug. 13-16

The weather models seem to have come to an agreement on the area of low pressure forecasted to come in off the Pacific around mid-week. It looks like the energy from this system will quickly spin up an area of low pressure over north-central Alberta on Tuesday. The low will then quickly deepen and track

A smoke column rises from a wildfire on May 4, 2023 near Lodgepole, Alta., about 30 km southwest of Drayton Valley. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire handout via Reuters)

Canada’s record-setting wildfires could persist for rest of ‘marathon’ summer

Country's fires account for over a quarter of world's carbon for 2023

Ottawa | Reuters — Record-setting wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an abnormally high rate for several more weeks, though the spread of blazes is likely to start diminishing in September, according to federal projections released on Friday. Forest fires have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year,


July: Cool east, warm west, dry in between

Summing up weather conditions during July

Believe it or not, July started off hot, but only the first two days had daytime highs above 30 C. After that, Manitoba saw the development of a deep Hudson Bay upper low that meandered around for nearly two weeks, placing the eastern Prairies under a cool northerly flow. That weather pattern broke in the

Weather extremes trim EU 2023-24 grain prospects

Weather extremes trim EU 2023-24 grain prospects

European weather has swung wildly

Reuters – Europe’s grain crop is expected to drop due to wildly ranging growing conditions, according to an Aug. 2 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service post in Madrid, Spain. The agency reported that the bloc has suffered “weather conditions ranging from excessive heat to cooler-than-average temperatures, and from drought to


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Monitor map at July 31, 2023. (AAFC)

Prairie Forecast: Cooler and unsettled

Issued Aug. 9, covering Aug. 9 to 16

First off, I must apologize for not producing an update to the last forecast; I had the opportunity to do some backwoods camping, which meant I was off the grid for about five days. I’m back now, and from the weather model runs I’ve been able to check out, this forecast period is going to

Field peas. (Lisa Guenther photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Average yields expected for Manitoba crops

Beans, soy may still benefit if rain comes

MarketsFarm — Pulse crops in Manitoba fared well against the elements which included sporadic rainfall and normal to below-normal temperatures for much of the past month. Provincial pulse specialist Dennis Lange in Altona said field peas should begin harvesting operations next week. “As far as pea acres go, we’re looking at about 145,000 acres. That’s