An interesting weather pattern is currently in place across western North America with Tropical Storm Hilary taking an unusual northerly track as it comes in off the Pacific Ocean south of California. Tropical storms or hurricanes in that region normally do one of two things: they either recurve back out into the Pacific, or move […] Read more
Tag Archives weatherfarm news — page 15

Prairie Forecast Update: Southern areas may get Hilary’s leftovers
Issued Aug. 20, covering Aug. 20-23

B.C. wildfires intensify, evacuation orders double
Rain helping slow fires near Yellowknife
Kelowna | Reuters — Forest fires in British Columbia intensified on Saturday, with the number of people under evacuation orders doubling from a day earlier, as authorities warned of difficult days ahead. The province declared a state of emergency on Friday to access temporary authoritative powers to tackle fire-related risks, as out-of-control fires ripped through […] Read more

Prairie Forecast: Upper ridge to bring the heat
Issued Aug. 16, covering Aug. 16-23
After going through a couple of weeks of tough forecasting, with little agreement among the weather models, this forecast period is looking a little more stable with the two main weather models for our region in basic agreement. We start off this forecast with a low over Manitoba that is quickly moving east. To the […] Read more

Soil microbes help plants cope with drought
Science Notes: Microbes seen to adapt to drought over time
Plants call out with chemical signals in times of stress, summoning microbes that can unlock bound nutrients and find water in soil pores too small for the finest roots. In return, microbes get a safe place to live or a sugary drink. It’s a classic you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours scenario. Except when it’s not. New research from the […] Read more

Prairie Forecast Update: Low to chug through mid-week
Issued Aug. 13, covering Aug. 13-16
The weather models seem to have come to an agreement on the area of low pressure forecasted to come in off the Pacific around mid-week. It looks like the energy from this system will quickly spin up an area of low pressure over north-central Alberta on Tuesday. The low will then quickly deepen and track […] Read more

Canada’s record-setting wildfires could persist for rest of ‘marathon’ summer
Country's fires account for over a quarter of world's carbon for 2023
Ottawa | Reuters — Record-setting wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an abnormally high rate for several more weeks, though the spread of blazes is likely to start diminishing in September, according to federal projections released on Friday. Forest fires have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year, […] Read more

Weather conditions leave soybeans with wet feet
Damp areas may look worse than they are and there’s little response from adding more nutrients
The effects of a wet July are appearing in soybean fields across parts of southern Ontario, and although plants appear to be yellowing, it’s too early to assess the impact. Anecdotal reports of one, one-and-a-half, two and four inches of rain in separate events have had a visible effect on many growers’ fields, particularly in […] Read more

Prairie Forecast: Cooler and unsettled
Issued Aug. 9, covering Aug. 9 to 16
First off, I must apologize for not producing an update to the last forecast; I had the opportunity to do some backwoods camping, which meant I was off the grid for about five days. I’m back now, and from the weather model runs I’ve been able to check out, this forecast period is going to […] Read more

Prairie forecast: Warm-hot start then slow cooldown
Issued August 2, covering August 2 to 9
The weather models have been doing a good job with the overall weather picture over the last several weeks, despite a fairly unsettled, tough-to-figure-out weather pattern. In this next forecast period, it will again be tough to figure out some of the finer details as our region experiences weak highs, lows, and even the possibility […] Read more

Updated prairie forecast: unsettled start as sub-arctic high builds in
Issued July 26, covers July 26 to August 2
Update: A low tracking through central prairies is a little weaker than expected. This will result in less precipitation with showers, thundershowers, and storms being less widespread. Another issue is the smoke which can be difficult to predict. Areas with smoke we see cooler than expected daytime highs. An upper ridge that brought plenty of […] Read more