File photo of wheat south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2022. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairie forecast: Heatwave coming to an end

Forecast issued July 24 covering July 24 to 31, 2024

Southern Alberta, southern and central Saskatchewan and Manitoba will see another day or two of hot weather before the northern low drags a cold front southward, which will bring an end to this extended heatwave.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a strong solar flare on May 8. The image shows a blend of 171 and 131 Angstrom light, subsets of extreme ultraviolet light.

More guidance outages possible this growing season

Newer GPS receivers may prove more reliable during intense solar storms

In spring many producers lost GPS signals and were forced to go old-school and actually use the steering wheel — or shut down until service was restored. That interruption was caused by intense solar flare activity, creating outages across most of North America. It may not be the only GPS interruption producers can expect through […] Read more


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Prairie forecast: More typical summer weather

Forecast issued July 10, covering July 10 to 17, 2024

For this forecast period, it looks like the upper ridge will slowly flatten and drop southwards as a series of weak lows track across the northern Prairies. This will result in a reduction in the extreme temperatures. Daytime highs and overnight lows should fall back to more seasonable values.



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Prairie forecast: A switch in the weather pattern?

Forecast issued July 3, covering July 3 to 10, 2024

Over the last couple weeks, I've been asked repeatedly, “when will summer actually get here?” This is especially true over the eastern Prairies. It just doesn't and hasn’t felt like summer yet. Well, it looks like the cool, unsettled weather pattern will be breaking down during this forecast period. This will allow much more summer-like temperature to move in.

heavy rain in manitoba 2024

Moving from dry to wet

Improved moisture conditions can mean different strategies

Farmers in Western Canada can breathe easy. Rains across most of the Prairies this spring have gone a long way toward recharging groundwater levels and lowering the risk of drought across the region. “We had an extremely warm winter with lower-than-normal precipitation in most areas,” says Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. […] Read more


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Prairie forecast: A slow slide into summer

Forecast issued June 26, covering June 26 to July 3, 2024

For a change, this forecast period starts of with weak high pressure in place across the Prairies. This brings a mix of sun and clouds and near-average temperatures. Any below-average temperatures are the thanks to the return flow behind the strong area of low pressure which, as predicted, tracked across the central and northern Prairies and brought all sorts of severe weather earlier this week.



seeding near lethbridge 2011

Prairie soils’ organic carbon climbing

Data from StatCan and AAFC highlight positive changes made in agriculture since the 1980s

Glacier FarmMedia — For much of the last five years, the federal government has been setting targets for Canadian farmers to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer and methane emissions from cattle. The government has provided funding to help producers cut methane and nitrous oxide emissions from primary agriculture, while constantly beating the drumbeat of […] Read more

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Ukraine corn production seen falling this year

London | Reuters – Ukraine’s corn production and exports are expected to fall this year with yields set to fall after extreme heat while crops were sown in April, Mykola Gorbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) said on Wednesday. “During the planting time in April we had really hot weather,” he told the […] Read more