Container ships pass through locks on the Panama Canal in this file photo. (CIA.gov)

Panama Canal’s drought-induced bottleneck eases

Some vessels detour; transits per day still reduced

Panama City | Reuters — A backlog of vessels waiting to pass the Panama Canal due to drought-related restrictions has eased in recent days after the waterway’s authority authorized more non-booked ships to pass and as others are choosing alternate routes to avoid the delays. The Panama Canal Authority last week opened two additional slots […] Read more

A climate change activist plays a violin in New York City’s Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, on June 7, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Maye-E Wong)

Climate change made Quebec wildfires twice as likely, scientists say

Early snow disappearance led to earlier fires

London | Reuters — The fires that tore through the province of Quebec between May and July were made at least twice as likely by climate change, scientists said on Tuesday. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, also made the fires as much as 50 per cent more intense, according to the […] Read more


File photo of farmland around an abandoned farmstead near Swift Current, Sask. (ImagineGolf/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan front-loads AgriRecovery funding

Joint federal-provincial program development still underway

The Saskatchewan government says it will put up to $70 million toward “immediate measures” to support livestock producers, ahead of an expected federal-provincial AgriRecovery program for that purpose. Application forms are expected to be available via Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. (SCIC) “in the coming days” for funding “to help offset extraordinary costs of feeding livestock […] Read more

Floodwaters flow into Gower Gulch near Zabriskie Point, about 190 km west of Las Vegas, in California’s Death Valley National Park on Aug. 20, 2023. The U.S. National Park Service closed the park effective that afternoon due to moderate to heavy rainfall and flash flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary. (Death Valley National Park/National Park Service video screengrab via Facebook)

Prairie Forecast Update: Southern areas may get Hilary’s leftovers

Issued Aug. 20, covering Aug. 20-23

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


The McDougall Creek wildfire burns outside West Kelowna, B.C. on Aug. 18, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

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




A smoke column rises from a wildfire on May 4, 2023 near Lodgepole, Alta., about 30 km southwest of Drayton Valley. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire handout via Reuters)

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


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Monitor map at July 31, 2023. (AAFC)

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

Hot weather is posing a threat to corn crops in the U.S.  Photo: Thinkstock

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