It's looking like there will be a cool and dry start to the 2014 growing season, according to the owner and senior meteorologist with World Weather Inc.
Drew Lerner told attendees at the Prairie Oat Growers Association annual meeting in Winnipeg on Thursday that he's expecting a cool, dry bias for winter and into spring.
"The weather pattern we're in right now is going to perpetuate into spring," he said. "We're probably going to be running a little dry, the snowfall probably won't be quite as deep as it would be otherwise."
The pattern, known as a "northwest flow," will see storms move south from the Northwest Territories and Alaska, he explained.
"They will move across the region, but won't bring a lot of moisture in until we can change the pattern, which might not occur until late spring," said Lerner. "If that's the case, we could end up having a good drier bias to start, but it might be kind of coolish too. We might have to look for timely precipitation in May and June."
He noted below normal precipitation should not be a major concern for growers on the eastern side of the Canadian Prairies.
"We have a lot of moisture in the soil. There's not a huge area of dryness, except in central and northern Alberta and west-central Saskatchewan," he said. "The key is if we have a cooler bias, we'll most likely conserve the moisture we have, but soil temperatures might be a little cool when we want to start planting, so we could be a little slow getting into the fields."
Looking ahead to summer, Lerner says early indications point toward a drier trend.
"The odds are good that we don't have enough information yet to be smart, but the trend that we see is a little bit of a drier flavour."
All fall all storms came from the NW if it was raining in PA we would get rain. Same with snow.
Drew Lerner told attendees at the Prairie Oat Growers Association annual meeting in Winnipeg on Thursday that he's expecting a cool, dry bias for winter and into spring.
"The weather pattern we're in right now is going to perpetuate into spring," he said. "We're probably going to be running a little dry, the snowfall probably won't be quite as deep as it would be otherwise."
The pattern, known as a "northwest flow," will see storms move south from the Northwest Territories and Alaska, he explained.
"They will move across the region, but won't bring a lot of moisture in until we can change the pattern, which might not occur until late spring," said Lerner. "If that's the case, we could end up having a good drier bias to start, but it might be kind of coolish too. We might have to look for timely precipitation in May and June."
He noted below normal precipitation should not be a major concern for growers on the eastern side of the Canadian Prairies.
"We have a lot of moisture in the soil. There's not a huge area of dryness, except in central and northern Alberta and west-central Saskatchewan," he said. "The key is if we have a cooler bias, we'll most likely conserve the moisture we have, but soil temperatures might be a little cool when we want to start planting, so we could be a little slow getting into the fields."
Looking ahead to summer, Lerner says early indications point toward a drier trend.
"The odds are good that we don't have enough information yet to be smart, but the trend that we see is a little bit of a drier flavour."
All fall all storms came from the NW if it was raining in PA we would get rain. Same with snow.