Weather: Welcome to storm-dodging season

Forecast issued Mar. 18, covering the period from Mar. 23 to Mar. 30, 2022

It might not seem like it, but the weather models did a pretty good job with last week’s forecast. The biggest issue was that the shift to a westerly pattern ushered in milder-than-expected air, resulting in warmer temperatures, especially at night. The Colorado low did develop, but it stayed well to our south. This will

Weather school: Jet streams, venting and wind

Forces have lined up to favour these recent snows and strong winds

Snow or wind, snow or wind, which to write about this week? I think I am going to try to finish up our look at wind. Hopefully by next week we will be in a warmer spring-like pattern, and will be done with the snow, so what better time to write about it? Unfortunately, for


Forecast: Still waiting for warm weather

Forecast issued March 11, 2022, covering the period from March 16 to 23, 2022

Last issue’s weather forecast — or rather, weather outlook — turned out pretty good. We saw colder-than-average temperatures for the most part and we saw a parade of Alberta clippers that brought clouds and occasional light and blowing snow every couple of days. The clippers were not as strong as we saw back in February

2022 continues to be cold and snowy

CanSIPS calls for near-average precipitation over the next three months

For most of agricultural Manitoba it was a cold and snowy February. While everyone saw cold temperatures and a lot of wind, not everyone saw a ton of snow. As I have written in the past, collecting and measuring accurate snowfall amounts is not easy, especially if it is windy — something we saw a


Forecast: Weather pattern remaining the same

Forecast issued Mar. 3, covering the period from Mar. 9 to Mar. 16, 2022

Last week’s forecast played out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting. We did see a little snow from the possible Colorado low, but the low mostly stayed to our south and did not get as strong as it could have. We also saw a return of cold arctic air by the end

Weather school: Wind, and why we have it, Part 2

Coriolis and friction keep our air from moving on a straight southbound line

Last week we introduced the four main forces that drive our winds; gravity, air pressure, Coriolis and friction. This week we will go into a little more detail on these forces and hopefully come to a better understanding of just what creates wind. If you remember in Part 1 of this article, we discussed that


Weather: Temperatures to remain below average

Forecast issued Feb. 25, covering the period from Mar. 2 to Mar. 9, 2022

Last week’s forecast played out fairly well. We saw frigid arctic air move in during the first part of the forecast, and while the second half didn’t happen exactly as forecast, temperatures remained mostly on the colder side as winter maintained its grip on our region. For this forecast period I would like to say

Weather school: Wind, and why we have it

The bigger the atmospheric pressure difference, the faster air moves between two areas

I originally thought for this week I would do an article about just how much snow different parts of the Prairies have received so far this winter, which would then lead us into our first look at spring flooding, but I think that will have to wait just a bit longer for a couple of


Weather: Cold temperatures look to dominate

Forecast issued Feb. 18, covering the period from Feb. 23 to Mar. 2, 2022

Once again, the forecast in my last article all went to you-know-what. The cold pattern won out over the more spring-like pattern and as a result it seemed like every little storm system ended up tracking right through southern and central Manitoba, bringing more snow and strong winds. Fortunately, for this forecast period it looks