THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012
VOL. 90 | NO. 2 | $3.75
PICK UP AFTER DRY WEATHER, HIGH WINDS SPARK BLAZES IN ALBERTA P5 FIRE! | PEOPLE
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CROP PRODUCTION SHOW KICKS OFF
Blair Herman and Trevor Rich, both of Craven, Sask., compare notes while looking at a Honey Bee header. The two farmers and neighbours were among the first to attend the Crop Production Show in Saskatoon, held from Jan. 9-12. The information sessions called Crop Production Week also run this week. FOR EARLY WEEK COVERAGE, SEE PAGES 3 & 16. | WILLIAM DEKAY PHOTO
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WEATHER | PREDICTIONS
How long will the warm spell last? BY DAN YATES SASKATOON NEWSROOM
What was expected to be a coolerthan-normal winter has, so far, seen balmy temperatures across the Prairies, and even rain in some centres. Through December, temperatures across the Prairies were much warmer than normal. Already in 2012, Calgary has seen successive days without freezing and, last week, Saskatchewan saw recordsetting temperatures across the province, with Maple Creek topping 16 C on Jan. 4. Positive temperatures persisted through the Jan. 7-8 weekend.
“I’m a little gun shy right now given the fact that we said it was going to be a colder than normal winter,” David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said last week during the winter heat wave. At the end of November, Environment Canada’s seasonal forecast projected below-normal temperatures for the entire prairie region, showing the effects of La Nina conditions. That projection has been updated for the three-month period January through February to show coolerthan-normal temperatures in the northern Prairies, but also normal temperatures in wheat-growing areas in the southern and central parts of the provinces and even milder weather in the southern regions along the Souris and Assiniboine rivers. It’s not uncommon for the province to see warm days in the middle of win-
ter, but what makes this year’s weather stand out is how it’s stayed warm. “It really has truly been a remarkable winter, but you can’t hold this,” said Phillips. “The bully is winter and the bully is sleeping and it will waken up and come and freeze.” The warmer autumn and winter can be linked to the positive phase of Arctic oscillation and a weak La Nina,
explained Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. The positive phase has hung around longer than expected, but Lerner expects the weather pattern to enter its negative phase in the next few weeks, which should send colder air down to the surface. access=subscriber section=news,none,none
SEE WEATHER FORECASTS, PAGE 2
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The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Inc. Publisher, Larry Hertz Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240; Registration No. 10676
Records aplenty | Experts disagree on long-term forecast
JANUARY 12, 2012 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4