Weather: Spring still struggling to arrive

Forecast issued Apr. 29, covering the period from May 3 to 10, 2022

Well… I would have to say that the Colorado low that hit us over the weekend of April 23-24 was even stronger than the previous low. This low brought heavy rains and thunderstorms over central and eastern regions and more heavy snow over western regions. Now, as I try to get a grip on the

Is this the latest spring on record?

Moisture was kept from eastern Manitoba by large thunderstorms to the south

In a previous article, we talked about when spring usually starts across southern and central Manitoba. Little did I know at the time there was a good chance that this year just might break the record for the latest spring ever! That is, at least if you use Winnipeg’s data. If you didn’t read that


Weather: Spring is still struggling to arrive

Forecast issued Apr. 22, covering the period from Apr. 27 to May 3, 2022

The weather word for early spring was “dodging,” as in, “Just how long could we keep dodging storm systems?” Well, we all know the answer to that question. We got a hint of the answer in early April as a system brushed by us. This was then followed up by a direct hit with a

Can we expect an average or late start to spring?

When spring actually does arrive in Manitoba, it’s usually with a vengeance

For most of us it is hard to believe that climatically speaking, spring has already sprung. For a weather person, the four seasons are broken up into four equal portions: spring is March-May, summer is June-August, fall is September-November and winter is December-February. If we look at it from an astronomical point of view, the


Weather: Several chances for rain or snow

Forecast issued Apr. 8, covering the period from Apr. 13 to 20, 2022

Well, last week’s forecast began on a bit of a sour note. The weather models showed that the storm system which impacted far-southern and eastern regions of Manitoba on April 6 and 7 should have stayed well to our south. To give the models credit, it did stay well to our south, but the strength

Thoughts on a colder- and drier-than-average March

But will the colder weather continue into April?

I don’t know about you, but this year just seems to be flying by. I can’t believe it is already April. The weather question that seems to be on almost everyone’s mind is: when will spring finally arrive? Well, before we can try to answer that question by looking at the medium- to long-range forecasts,


Weather: Spring moving in, albeit slowly

Forecast issued Apr. 1, covering the period from Apr. 6 to 13, 2022

If you had to pick a time of the year that is the toughest to forecast, it would be spring. As warm air starts to build to our south and cold air continues to persist to our north, the battle between the two can make for some very tough forecasting. We saw this with the

Winnipeg or Brandon: Who had the most snow this past winter?

Calculating snowfall isn’t easy, but let’s look at what we know so far

As promised in previous columns, in this article we will dig into the snowfall data across parts of agricultural Manitoba this winter. While the data is interesting, what really jumps out at me is just how poor of a job we do measuring winter precipitation. I know I have already vented a little bit on


Weather: Cool temps move back in

Forecast issued Mar. 25, covering the period from Mar. 30 to Apr. 6, 2022

Last week’s forecast was not that bad. We did see a mild push of air last Thursday along with a few showers — then the arctic high pushed southward last Friday and Saturday, bringing much colder air, even a little colder than first expected. As I write this the weather models still show a chance

The problems of trying to measure snowfall

The heavier and wetter the snow is when it falls, the easier it will be to measure

Well, it’s finally time to look into the snowfall data for this winter across the Prairies with a particular emphasis on our own region: agricultural Manitoba. As you already know, snowfall amounts are difficult to measure. I have written about this in the past and anyone who goes outside in the winter knows how much