Latest news with #ChristyClimenhaga
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Severe hailstorm disrupts traffic on Highway 1 west of Regina
Traffic along Highway 1 west of Moose Jaw slowed to a crawl Friday morning after the area was hit with a load of hail. The deluge, brought on by two storm systems moving eastward, initially led to a tornado warning from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). That warning has now been rescinded, but ECCC is still warning of further hail in southeast Saskatchewan later today. "What we're seeing this morning is already a lot of active weather, including one severe cell that popped up to the south of the Chaplin area," Christy Climenhaga, a scientist with ECCC, said on Friday. "There's some more weaker thunderstorms popping up here and there around southwestern Saskatchewan, but the better chance of severe storms with large hail expected to the southeast as we make our way through the afternoon." The weather service is warning of wind gusts up to 90 kilometres an hour and hail the size of toonies for areas near Estevan and Cowessess First Nation. "It's likely going to be an active afternoon," Climenhaga said. "Warnings can pop up quickly and they can change quickly. If you are headed outside and you do see a thunderstorm or hear thunder, or there's a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for your area, you do want to take shelter immediately inside."
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Holy smoke! Winnipeg sets another unwanted record
Winnipeg has blazed its way to its smokiest year on record — and there are still nearly three months remaining in the wildfire season. The city had recorded 306 smoke hours as of Tuesday, compared with 304 in 1961. 'We're not even through the wildfire season, and we're already the smokiest,' Environment and Climate Change Canada scientist Christy Climenhaga said. 'The smoke this summer has been pretty relentless. We've had fires since the beginning of the season. It has been a very active smoke year in Manitoba.' The record comes days after Winnipeg recorded its smokiest month ever, with 189 hours in July. That was 26 more than the 163 in May 1961. Environment Canada meteorologist Crawford Luke said 2025 is the smokiest Winnipeg has been in 72 years of record keeping. 'We have been counting smoke hours from April 1 through Oct. 31 to try to reflect smoke from the wildfire seasons of the past,' Luke said Wednesday. 'A smoke hour is defined as an hourly observation where the weather observer observed the visibility to be six miles (9.65 kilometres) or less, with smoke as the visibility reduction. These observations are taken at the top of the hour at Winnipeg International Airport.' Environment Canada began recording smoke hours in 1953, when it recorded 66. There have been 13 years where the smoke hours were recorded as zero — the latest was 2020. While, for the most part, the number of hours remained in the low double digits for decades, they have been much higher than that in four of the past five years, including 2025. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg recorded its smokiest month ever, with 189 smoke hours in July. The 262 hours in 2021 was the highest count since 1961, and the first time since then that it was a three-digit number. In 2023, 125 hours were recorded, and 108 were recorded in 2024. There was only one hour of smoke in 2022, when Winnipeg set a record with its wettest year, with 739.9 millimetres of rain and snow recorded up to Oct. 24. Kevin RollasonReporter Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin. Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Southern Sask. sets smoke hours record as wildfires continue to burn
WATCH: Southern Saskatchewan is well on its way to breaking the smoke hour record for this fire season. Jacob Carr reports. Those across southern Saskatchewan have had to contend with increasingly smoky days as wildfires continue to burn in the province's north. Those who believe this fire season may be the worst in recent memory for smoke – may be right. The northern wildfires aren't the only culprit though, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). 'What we've been looking at is a lot of smoke from fires not only in north central Saskatchewan, which has been bringing a lot of the smoke that we have been seeing recently,' ECCC scientist Christy Climenhaga told CTV News. 'There's also been quite a bit of smoke this summer so far from Alberta and into Manitoba.' As a result, smoke has been an issue Canada-wide, and that's especially true in Regina. Just last month, 109 smoke hours were recorded in Regina, making it the smokiest month on record since the start of smoke hours data collection in 1953. A smoke hour is recorded when smoke has obscured visibility to less than six miles. 'This summer has definitely been different with the smoke,' Regina resident Jeanine Hackl explained. 'I'm trying not to pay attention to it too much, but I can definitely feel the heaviness on my lungs once I'm doing physical activity and things like that.' Murray Kyle, another Regina resident, isn't letting the smoke stop him from going out for walks with his dog, but he admits that he has never seen anything like this year's wildfires – or the resulting smoke. 'Oh, they are terrible, I don't remember them ever being in the news when I was growing up or anything like experiencing this,' he said. Furthermore, ECCC says that April through October has the potential to be the smokiest on record for the entire season in Southern Sask. 'We have 215 hours of smoke as of yesterday. That's second place to 2013 which had 263 hours, but that was all the way until October,' Climenhaga added. 'So, we'll be having to see where this season stacks up when all is said and done.'
CBC
22-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Calgary's bummer summer weather still dampening spirits this week
Social Sharing A dismally damp July is forecast to continue to rain out plans for Calgarians this month, as Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is predicting more precipitation and cold weather this week. Last weekend brought yet more showers in what's been an unusually rainy July for Alberta, as parts of the province were hit with 20 to 44 mm. ECCC forecasts 10 to 20 mm of rain is possible for Monday evening, along with the risk of a thunderstorm. Another 10 to 20 mm is forecast for Tuesday amid colder temperatures than usual, with a forecasted high of just 11 degrees. ECCC scientist Christy Climenhaga says a cold front sweeping through Alberta is bringing rainy weather into the Calgary area. "You can get into these patterns where you do have unsettled weather and periods of instability where you get rain, rain, rain," she said. Calgary has already received more than its typical share of rain this July, she said, with the roughly 101 mm as of Sunday being far above the usual July average of around 65 mm. The overall poor weather has been punctuated by heavy rainfall events like the one Calgary saw in late June, as well as a major hailstorm earlier this month that damaged trees and cut power to some parts of the city. Climenhaga says the current cold front is combining with an unsettled pattern in southern Alberta to create inclement weather. She notes that long-term precipitation can be difficult to forecast, because an unexpected thunderstorm or two can easily push an area above its average rainfall amount. "And then you can get the other side of the coin where you get a big upper ridge that just keeps all systems away that just brings consistent heat and dry weather," she said. WATCH | Storm chasers drawn to Alberta's wild weather: Alberta's wild weather has become a magnet for a unique group of characters: storm chasers 6 days ago But Calgary's poor July weather has been surprising because ECCC had hinted at drier-than-normal conditions for southern Alberta this summer. "It's kind of interesting to see the rain coming after a very dry weather and early start to spring for much of southern Alberta," said Climenhaga. Poor weather dampening Calgary recreation Though the rain has been a welcome reprieve from very dry conditions, it also means Calgarians aren't able to spend as much time outdoors. Rachel Hugh, a league co-ordinator with Calgary Minor Soccer, estimates they've rescheduled well over 400 games this season, with about a dozen more in need of a new timeslot this week. Wet fields, thunder and lightning and poor air quality due to wildfire smoke have all contributed to Calgary Minor Soccer games being cancelled or abandoned throughout the summer. "With the forecast that we've had and the forecast that we're expecting, I'm going to assume we're going to have a lot of games that will remain as unplayed this year, just because we can't fit them into the schedule," said Hugh. The poor July weather also isn't ideal for local recreation companies like Paddle Station. Mike McKeown, who owns the Calgary-based rafting company, says this summer's inclement weather has meant there aren't as many customers looking to paddle the city's rivers. "Calgary weather can turn on a dime. Sometimes that means it goes from cold to hot, and sometimes that means it goes from hot to cold, and that's part of the deal we signed up for," said McKeown. "If we know that there's the chance of a thunderstorm in the area, near the river, that's a no go. Whatever we have to do to make sure everyone is safe." But clearer skies could soon be ahead.
Calgary Herald
14-07-2025
- Climate
- Calgary Herald
Calgary's "Hail Alley" provides valuable data for hailstorm research
If there's two things that are guaranteed for the summer in Calgary, it's always Stampede and the seasonal hailstorms that hit the city right after. Following a flash hailstorm on Sunday, climate experts explain why they always take place around this time of year. Article content Due to Alberta's geography, scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada Christy Climenhaga, said it gives the province with the most optimal conditions for our 'Hail Alley.' Article content Article content Article content 'It kind of runs from Drayton Valley, south towards the south side of Calgary towards that main hail corridor, especially if you are located on the northern side of the city,' she said. Article content Article content Historically, Calgary experiences intense hail events every few years. Article content With the last few major events taking place in August of 2024 and 2022, Climenhaga said it is generally around this time of year when the dynamics of the weather play a role in creating intense storms. Article content 'You need very strong updrafts inside of a thunderstorm, often a supercell thunderstorm will produce these larger hail stones,' Climenhaga said. 'You need enough moisture, a freezing level where that moisture has to be lifted, where those ice stones can form to really all line up to get big hailstorms. Article content 'Calgary often does have that perfect setup, where you do have low enough freezing levels where you do get that moisture pushed up enough to really grow those hailstones.' Article content Article content Simon Eng, research meteorologist for the Northern Hail Project run out of Western University in Ontario, said they've received reports of Sunday's storm hosted hailstones that ranged from 40 to 45 millimetres in size, alongside gusts of wind in the 90 km/h range. Article content Article content 'You had a lesser magnitude hail event yesterday, but other factors present that may have turned up the dial and increased the risk of some of these attendant hazards that are associated with severe thunderstorms,' Eng said. Article content There are three overall programs that the NHP uses to collect data over the summer. Article content First are teams based in Olds and Olds College throughout the summer, generally tasked with chasing storms wherever they occur around the province. Article content Second is their instrumented networks branch that use specialized weather stations and equipment for hail monitoring across Calgary and surrounding agricultural areas.
