Weather Vane & Farming Articles - Manitoba Co-operator

Weather: Cold Christmas, then milder

Forecast issued December 16, covering the period from December 21 to December 28, 2022

By Daniel Bezte December 22, 2022

The main area of low pressure that the models forecasted to impact our region during the last forecast period did materialize, but it ended up taking a much more westerly route than expected. In fact, the low retrograded or moved from east to west a little bit. This meant the rainfall from this system fell

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Understanding wind chill and the polar vortex

There’s a lot of science behind both but you wouldn’t know it from the media

By Daniel Bezte December 21, 2022

We are starting to see some cold weather. A short-lived cold snap from Dec. 5 to 7 saw overnight lows in the -30s in most areas, with some regions (including my own backyard) seeing lows in the -36 to -38 C range. This cold weather got me thinking about different cold weather topics and I found we have

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Weather: Major storm a possibility but not certainty

Forecast issued December 9, covering the period from December 14 to December 21, 2022

By Daniel Bezte December 15, 2022

We are starting to see a trend in medium-range weather forecasts this winter. The first half of the forecasts are turning out well but the second halves are struggling. Last issue’s forecast followed this pattern, with the call for a cold start and then a quick return to milder temperatures. In the second half of

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Winter forecasts can be a real mixed bag

With the first full month of winter past, it’s been all over the map

By Daniel Bezte December 14, 2022

Holy cow, it’s hard to believe we are into the last month of 2022. From a climatological point of view, we have just finished the first full month of winter across the Prairies. For those who are more astronomical, we are now entering the first full month of winter. No matter which way you view

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Weather: No extreme cold or big storms expected

Forecast issued December 2, covering the period from December 7 to December 14, 2022

By Daniel Bezte December 8, 2022

The first half of last issue’s forecast played out pretty darned close to what the weather models predicted. We saw a fairly strong area of low-pressure track through central Manitoba early in the forecast period, and this low was followed by a quick shot of colder air. The second low did develop and brought a

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Why Manitoba doesn’t see huge lake-effect snows

Unlike Lake Winnipeg, the Great Lakes are deep enough to store significant heat

By Daniel Bezte December 7, 2022

If you’re a weather nut like me, you likely heard about the extreme lake-effect snowfalls that recently hit parts of Ontario and New York state. Due to the nature of the Great Lakes, they can often see truly significant lake-effect snowfalls. In Manitoba, we too can see lake-effect snow, but not to the same extent.

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Weather: Colder to start, with chance of snow

Forecast issued November 25, covering the period from November 30 to December 7, 2022

By Daniel Bezte December 1, 2022

As we have seen with the last few forecasts, the weather models have been doing a good job with the overall weather pattern but are struggling with the details. Take last issue’s forecast: the overall pattern looked mild and dry, and that is exactly what we saw. But the timing of the smaller-scale features was

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Getting a sense of snowfall probabilities

A big storm with more than 30 cm of snow is a once-in-10-years kind of event

By Daniel Bezte November 30, 2022

The number of recent weather questions has dropped to nothing. Maybe we have answered all the weather questions! Whenever this happens and nothing major has occurred weather-wise in our neck of the woods, I like to look back at some of my weather articles from the last 19 years. That’s right, by the end of

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Weather: A return to milder conditions expected

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

By Daniel Bezte November 24, 2022

The last forecast period did not materialize exactly as predicted but the end results were pretty close. We saw several lows drop south to southeastward every couple of days early in the forecast period, bringing light snow. What we did not see was much in the way of clear skies during that period, as the

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Understanding Alberta clippers and Colorado lows

The Rockies and the troposphere help set up peculiar curves

By Daniel Bezte November 23, 2022

Last spring and a few times this fall, the Prairies have seen several large winter storm systems. Most big fall or winter snowfalls come from areas of low pressure that develop to the lee of the Rocky Mountains. One area of development is over Alberta, producing what’s affectionately referred to as an Alberta clipper. The

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Weather Vane

Weather: Cold Christmas, then milder

Understanding wind chill and the polar vortex

Weather: Major storm a possibility but not certainty

Winter forecasts can be a real mixed bag

Weather: No extreme cold or big storms expected

Why Manitoba doesn’t see huge lake-effect snows

Weather: Colder to start, with chance of snow

Getting a sense of snowfall probabilities

Weather: A return to milder conditions expected

Understanding Alberta clippers and Colorado lows

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