The toughest part of spring forecasting is considering snow on the ground and how it will impact temperatures. In a typical year, when there is widespread and fairly deep snow cover, this can be a little easier. Even then, the forecast will often call for warm temperatures with highs of 6 to 8 C and […] Read more
Tag Archives Daniel Bezte — page 9
Prairie snowpack is beginning to accumulate
I have been accused of it, but I am not a weather sorcerer! Yes, I talked about the history of big spring snowstorms, and delayed talk about lack of snow cover this winter, but that doesn’t mean I had anything to do with the snowy conditions across much of the Prairies in recent weeks. But […] Read more
Wild winter continues with warm February
In my January weather review, I said 2024 might be a wild year after the rollercoaster ride of January. Well, the wild weather continued, with spring-like temperatures into February and a cold and snowy end to the month. As we head into March, I wonder if we will see another flip like we saw last […] Read more
Looking back at spring snowstorms of yesteryear
Most of us are hoping for snow this spring. Here’s a look by province at what’s happened in the past. Over the last 140 years, Winnipeg has recorded 20 centimetres of snow or more on a single day in March at 12 different times. The most recent was March 8, 1999. The largest March snowstorm […] Read more
Tonga eruption not main cause of record heat
In the last article, we discussed the way volcanoes can impact day-to-day weather and also the climate of the planet over extended periods of time. Volcanoes, for the most part, have a cooling effect on our planet. The ash and sulfur dioxide propelled into the atmosphere from the eruption tend to block incoming solar radiation, […] Read more
Volcanoes can have complex effect on weather
Throughout Earth’s history, volcanic eruptions have played a significant role in development of our atmosphere. This volcanic activity also helps shape our global climate patterns, sometimes affecting only local weather and climate patterns, and other times exerting a global influence. Take the infamous year without a summer in 1816. That year, and for several years […] Read more
January took us on a wild weather ride
If January was an indication of weather for the rest of 2024, it is going to be one wild year! It started off warm. Then winter showed up in full force, bringing record-breaking cold weather, especially over the western half of the Prairies. Luckily it didn’t last that long as we saw an about-face during […] Read more
How the polar vortex gave us our cold snap
I recently received a timely question about the polar vortex —what is it, how does it form and why can it sometimes bring us such cold weather? Maybe it is a little late for this topic now that temperatures across the Prairies have rebounded from record to near record cold to the other extreme of […] Read more
Wind chill references can often cause confusion
I have received a number of emails and have overheard plenty of conversations about wind chill over the last week. Some of the emails are asking what it is, but most are asking for clarification on whether a -52 C wind chill really means it is -52 C outside. When we talk about apparent temperature […] Read more
2023 warmest year on record globally
The 2023 global weather summary done by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which is part of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, found that last year was the warmest calendar year in global temperature data records going back to 1850. The year had a global average temperature of 14.98 C, 0.17 C higher […] Read more
