After a scorching hot week in Ontario that ended with some much needed rain for parts of the province, will we see a return to more average temperatures? That’s the question Shaun Haney puts to Environment Canada’s David Phillips, and the answer might not be what you want to hear. With warmer than normal weather… Read More
Tag: David Phillips
We have many traditions in agriculture. Skills and knowledge in the industry are passed on from generation to generation. This passing of the knowledge torch is one of the mechanisms that makes agriculture special. Sometimes our wisdom is built on the passing of legend. In this case, we’re talking about rain happening ninety days after a… Read More
Your weekly ag news audio update — here’s the TWORA podcast for July 2nd, 2015: Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | All Podcasts
After coping with excess moisture in many instances over the last few years, farmers in much of Western Canada are suffering from a case of “weather whiplash,” as Dave Phillips, veteran meteorologist with Environment Canada, has termed it. Much of the west has received less than 60 percent of average precipitation this growing season, with… Read More
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, is not going to predict the first frost of the fall, so let’s just get that out of the way right now. As he says in the interview below, an over-arching weather trend says nothing about occasional frosts — that’s what averages are for — so the date… Read More
“Weird, wild and whacky” is how David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, sums up the 2014 growing season to date. From a long, cold winter, to a wet and late spring, and into a rather cool July full of major rain events, farmers in Ontario haven’t been able to catch a break. As the… Read More
On average across the West, this spring has been cool and wet. There have been some warm days, but at this time of year they have been too few and too spread out to do any real good as far crop development comes. The rain, as usual has been both a blessing and a curse… Read More
Timing is everything in agriculture, especially when it comes to rain and sunshine. This year in Ontario, that timing on average seems to be right on the money. This growing season around a large portion of Ontario, farmers were able to get a crop in early and watch that crop take advantage of heat and… Read More
The story for most of the East has been a story of too much or too little. From extreme moisture and heat to a lack of timely rain and cooler than usual spring temperatures, the pendulum has swung to the extreme on both ends. That begs the question: Will that pattern continue through the harvest… Read More
For a great deal of farmers, this summer has been fantastic and the harvest weather has been the same. Compared to this time last year the difference has been night and day. So the question now is, will this weather last? Will we see an extended summer this year or will we see an early… Read More
Last year proved to be a very interesting year for weather. Eastern Canada had probably one of the most ideal growing seasons in history. Western Canada suffered from the problems of dealing with heavy moisture and even drought in Northern Alberta. I have been at several farm shows across the country this month and weather… Read More
I have had many different farmers comment on the potential impact of the Iceland volcano eruption on the weather patterns this year. Was there more of an impact than just cancelled flights in and out of Europe or has the extreme variable weather in 2010 been just a coincidence? Farmers love weather and drawing correlations… Read More
How many coffee shops in Western Canada are talking about the fall weather. Will we get an early frost? Does late spring mean early fall? Can September be the hottest month of the year again? Weather is always something that occupies a farmers mind because the timing is so critical. For example, if we have… Read More
If I had a dollar for every time I have heard about the fog 90 days ago causing all this spring time moisture I would be getting rather wealthy at this point. For those of you that have never heard the prediction it goes as follows. Ninety days after a fog you are guaranteed rain. … Read More
Is there anything that occupies more time in discussions for farmers than the weather. Farmers depend on the weather. It either makes us or breaks us in most years. It is not only the amount of heat or moisture that we get but also the timing that is just as important. Look at this weeks… Read More