As we head into a new year, it's looking like this could be the last mild forecast period before a switch to a more typical winter weather pattern.
As usual, there is always a fair bit of uncertainty in forecasts beyond seven or so days, but we all knew that at some point we'd see some cold wintery weather move in.
Prairie forecast: One more week of above average temperatures
Issued Dec. 27, covering Dec. 27 to Jan. 3
Prairie forecast: Mild and dry weather right through to the New Year
Issued Dec. 20, covering Dec. 20 to Jan. 1
The holiday weather picture is starting to shape up, and if you're hoping for a perfect Christmas day with falling snow, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. If you are hoping for a continuation of mild winter weather, then it looks like you are in luck.
Prairie forecast: Mild and dry weather right up to the holidays
Issued Dec. 13, covering Dec. 13 to Dec. 25
Here is the big picture: there are two current storm tracks across North America. The first, which is well to our north, is the storm track that would normally be across our region. So far this winter, it has been displaced to our north – one of the reasons we have been dry. The second storm track is well to the south across the southern U.S. This places us under a rather slack flow as we oscillate between pushes of warm and cool air with each passage of low-pressure to our north.
Prairie forecast: Average to above average temperatures to continue
Issued Dec. 6, covering Dec. 6 to Dec. 13
With no big storm system impacting our region, the weather models have been doing a good job with the forecasts over the last few weeks. As we start to move closer and closer towards the middle of winter, the longer we can keep the warm air around, the shorter we can hope winter will be. With that said, here is what the big picture is looking like over the next seven or so days.
Prairie Forecast: Quiet, mild start to December
Issued Nov. 29, covering Nov. 29 to Dec. 6
The last forecast played out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting, with one small deviation: temperatures ended up being about 2 to 4 C warmer than forecasted. […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Winter temperatures try to move in
Issued Nov. 22, covering Nov. 22-29
There is a large, deep area of low pressure spinning over the northern half of Hudson Bay along with a building area of high pressure over the Yukon. The counterclockwise […] Read more
Prairie forecast: One more shot of warm weather?
Issued Nov. 14, covering Nov. 15 to 18
It looks like the well above average temperatures that flooded across the prairies over the last week or so will be coming to an end, at least eventually. The good news is that it doesn't look like it will be an abrupt end with well below average temperatures moving in.
Prairie Forecast: False start to winter as mild air returns
Issued Nov. 7, covering Nov. 8 to 15
It looks more and more as though our late-October cold snap and snowy conditions were indeed a false start to winter. In the last forecast I mentioned the really cold […] Read more
Understanding El Niño and La Niña
It has everything to do with the temperature of the Pacific Ocean
Glacier FarmMedia – We are into an El Niño period and there is high probability it will continue through the winter. What is El Niño, and why can it have […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Nice, quiet early-winter weather
Issued Nov. 1, covering Nov. 1 to 8
Interesting weather pattern setting up across the Prairies during this forecast period. Well, maybe “interesting” isn’t the right word; “boring” might be a better one. What I mean by “interesting” […] Read more
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