Photo: File

Prairie forecast: Widespread frost then turning warmer

Forecast issued Oct. 2, covering Oct. 2 to 9, 2024

A large, deep area of low pressure is spinning over eastern Hudson Bay. Weak high pressure stretches across the northern part of the U.S. and into the southern Prairies. The strong counterclockwise rotation around the Hudson Bay low is pushing plenty of cool air southwards across the Prairies. Most regions have a good chance of frost early in this forecast period.

File photo of autumn colours around Lake Diefenbaker in Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. (Nancy Anderson/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie forecast: Cooler, but still warmer than average

Forecast issued Sept. 25, covering Sept. 25 to Oct. 2, 2024

Despite a fairly unsettled pattern over the last forecast period, the weather models did a pretty good job of the forecast. For this forecast period, things should settle down a bit with a ridge of high pressure starting off our forecast. That doesn't mean that we won’t see any areas of low pressure, but unsurprisingly, the weather pattern is slowly shifting towards more of a fall pattern. That means quicker moving systems.


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Prairie forecast: Cooler and wetter in the west, dry and warm in the east

Forecast issued Sept. 11, covering Sept. 11 to 18, 2024

Our weather pattern looks to be on the brink of a shift as a trough of low pressure begins to develop along the West  Coast. For those of you in Alberta, this will mean cooler and wetter conditions. In Manitoba, it looks like summer will continue for at least one more week. If you are in Saskatchewan, well, you will be stuck in the middle of these two features.

Hail in a yard west of Somerset, Manitoba, June 12, 2024.  Photo: Alexis Stockford/File

Hail, strong winds damage Prairie crops

A series of storms left a path of destruction in all three Prairie provinces from Aug. 19 to 25. More than one million acres were either damaged or destroyed by the storms bringing hail and strong winds, leading to more than 2,800 claims of crop damage, according to the Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA). “This […] Read more


Photo: Thinkstock

Prairie forecast: Warm but unsettled weather

Forecast issued Aug. 21, covering Aug. 21 to 28, 2024

Last week's forecast got off to a rough start. The area of low pressure that pushed through the eastern Prairies ended up as a large upper level low. Because those are slow to move out, they can affect systems trying to move east by backing them up or forcing them to take a different path. So, while the overall pressure pattern across the Prairies was still slack as forecasted, the details got all messed up.

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Prairie forecast: Cooler weather coming, but little precipitation

Forecast issued July 31, covering July 31 to August 7, 2024

It's looking like we'll soon see an end to the hot conditions of the last few weeks as upper ridging collapses and the upper flow across the Prairies moves to a straight west-to-east flow. Under this pattern, we should see textbook summer conditions. The only downside is there aren't many chances of precipitation.


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