Slow Start To Storm Season (Snow Cover Map/Waterfowl Migration)

As deep freezing temperatures have vanished across much of the Canadian Prairies this week, spring begins its annual relief with thawing and melting well under way. By the looks of the snow cover maps, it is already very dry in the south west of Saskatchewan, including southern Alberta. There seems to be a dry line south of the Yellowhead Highway as cities such as Edmonton, Lloydminster, Saskatoon and Yorkton have the deepest moisture with the winter snow pack.

Map from Environment Canada

This means, the heat will be on early in the south west and without any significant rain or snow, it will be a very dry start to spring with more chance of dust storms this year. Hopefully, the drought does not spread to the rest of the farm belt. With very much normal snow packs along the Yellowhead, thunderstorms may have a difficult time getting too strong and tornadoes may be non-existent this summer in western Canada. All of this can change rapidly of course as spring showers often bring May flowers!

Here is a look at the current North American Snow Cover Map courtesy of NOAA:

These maps and more information can be found at Canadian Cryospheric Information Network

Also of note, the spring migration is just getting under way and you can see the progress of our natural seeders and fertilizers fly closer to your area via the Ducks Unlimited website.

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates on stormy weather this year!

August 19th, 2014 Lightning Storm

UPDATE: I was not the only one to see the green glow coming from the ground, several others tweeted about it and SaskPower had to deal with a major power outage to many area in and around Regina. It is believed to be a transformer explosion after a lightning strike just west of the city.

Good dry cg lightning show over Wascana Lake this evening, the last photo in this set is the green afterglow of a strike just as the shudder opened. I have never seen that before, weird.

Storm Hits Regina - August 8, 2014 [Full Version]

Lightning Over The Lake

It took nearly 200 photos, a lot of patience waiting for the storm and convincing myself that is wasn't done yet as the wind stopped and lightning flashes became very infrequent but here is the results:

Wascana Lake 12:39am

Wascana Lake 12:40am

LIVE Regina, Saskatchewan SKYCAM #SKSTORM

LIVE Regina, Saskatchewan SKYCAM #SKSTORM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqdd3kFkhUE

(hopefully this works, otherwise I will be back near midnight to fix..)