Latest news with #southernAlberta
CTV News
2 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
More showers and thunderstorms Monday, with highs of 27 C by Wednesday
In what has become a familiar weather story, persistent rain fell over the Calgary area overnight, intensifying to scattered thunderstorms by the Monday morning commute. More rain will populate along the foothills throughout the day before tracking west to east across southern Alberta. Calgary can expect intermittent showers and thunderstorms until the late evening when a steering low-pressure system in east-central Alberta moves into Saskatchewan. More showers and thunderstorms Monday, with highs of 27 C by Wednesday Communities in southern Alberta could see some more intense thunderstorms on Monday as they sit closer to a warmer air mass and may experience the ill-effects of the collision of that warmer air when it encounters the northern colder air mass. Starting Tuesday, a dominant ridge of high pressure riding the northern states will move into Alberta and provide a few days of warmer temperatures with more stable conditions. Monday's high in Calgary will be five degrees below seasonal, with Wednesday's high forecast to sit four degrees above seasonal. More showers and thunderstorms Monday, with highs of 27 C by Wednesday The daily high temperatures for the long weekend should be just below seasonal in Calgary with a chance of showers on Friday and Saturday. The overnight lows over that same period are expected to sit just above seasonal.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Local military and first responders relieve stress through art
Todd Lachance is the founder of Plein Air MD. He helps military members and first responders relieve their stress through painting. Todd Lachance is an artist who started Plein Air MD in 2022 as a way for military members and first responders to manage their stressful careers that, in some cases, lead to post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI). Lachance takes participants into natural settings around southern Alberta and teaches them to paint what they see. 'I've seen art therapy where it's done in a classroom, but just with the addition of nature, it's just that extra component of reconnecting with nature,' he said. 'I'm not trying to turn them into artists; I just get them out and just give them a good day.' Lachance has been painting for 30 years. He saw a need to help people in stressful careers and started Plein Air MD. 'My goal is to get them in the zone where they're creating with their minds and their hands in the eyes of nature and putting it all together and losing themselves in it, and that sort of starts a healing process, I think,' he said. 'These are the people that keep us safe and healthy, and to help that community so they can do their jobs better just makes everybody safer and healthier.' Barb Maller is a nurse at the Alberta Children's Hospital in the oncology unit. 'I just get to be a helper and try and make a terrible experience for them and their families a little more bearable,' she said. 'I have noticed, though, that when I have my days off, I really need to take some time and not just, you know, get the groceries and get the laundry done; I need to do some things for myself to decompress.' This was Maller's third outing with Lachance, and on this outing, they were at Mallard Point in Fish Creek Provincial Park, set up close to a tributary of the Bow River. 'It does really help me decompress; it's really relaxing for me, and especially if you combine that with a beautiful day, there's nothing better,' she said. 'I have my sister (Alison Young) with me today; that's another great way for me to decompress—just being with my family because I love my family and they're really important to me.' Maller shares some of her heart-wrenching stories with Young, who says her heart goes out to the children and her sister. Lachance opens the sessions up to family members of military and first responders as well. 'It's pretty fun to get out here and just hear the birds and the water and let your creative side take over,' said Young. 'It's pretty interesting because when you paint, you see more of the detail, you notice more things. It perks up your senses, I guess.' Julie Heyland is a medical office assistant at her husband's practice. (He's a rheumatologist.) She balances her career along with three children and says her stress level can peak during the workweek. 'I think there's a lot of good in prevention,' she said. 'So if I can take these moments for myself and kind of calm down, feel the wind, feel the sun, listen to the water, listen to the birds, it makes a big difference in my mental health and sanity to be able to just calm down and kind of recharge.' Lachance says he's looking to expand and would like to one day include teachers in Plein Air MD. You can learn more about it at
CTV News
23-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
More rain expected after a wet weekend in southern Alberta
As expected, southern Alberta dealt with a slow-moving low pressure system that brought persistent rain and snow over the first half of the weekend. In their weather summary on Sunday afternoon, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) noted the 'heaviest rain [from this weather event] fell along the foothills and over parts of eastern Alberta' with some communities like Kananaskis Village and Bragg Creek reporting snow. More rain expected after a wet weekend in southern Alberta The ECCC summary showed total precipitation accumulations from their official weather stations, as well as reports from social media, and information sourced from third-party websites. As of 6 a.m. Sunday, ECCC said up to 30 centimetres of snow had been reported along Highwood Pass, 201 millimetres of rain from the Kananaskis Valley, 131.4 millimetres from Cappon, 120 millimetres from Azure, 114 millimetres from Stavely, 109.7 millimetres from Bragg Creek, 98.1 millimetres from Bow Valley, 78.7 millimetres from Claresholm and 69.5 millimetres from Calgary. More rain expected after a wet weekend in southern Alberta By Sunday night, that low pressure system was sitting in southern Saskatchewan, allowing southern Alberta to start the week with sunny, but cooler conditions. Low-lying communities west of Calgary reported temperatures closer to freezing Monday morning. Clouds are expected to build throughout the day Monday and scattered showers or thunderstorms are possible in south-central Alberta. Most thunderstorms on Monday should remain non-severe in nature, however there is the potential for some intensification north of the Trans-Canada Highway, east of Calgary. Calgary's high of 17 C on Monday will be the coldest for the next week, with most days including at least a chance of rain or thunderstorm activity.
CTV News
18-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
More thunderstorms possible Wednesday with heavy rain starting Friday
As expected, showers and thunderstorms rolled through southern Alberta Tuesday afternoon prompting severe thunderstorm warnings across the region. A similar situation is possible on Wednesday, with thunderstorms initiating off of the foothills before tracking slightly north and mostly east. There is also a risk of thunderstorm development across northern Alberta and in the southeast portion of the province on Wednesday. Today's forecast includes enough available energy and wind shear within the atmospheric profile that there is a chance of supercell development. The greatest threats from these storms include large-sized hail and strong wind, however funnel clouds and/or tornadoes can not be ruled out. The other big weather story is an increasing likelihood of a prolific amount of rain expected to impact southern Alberta starting Friday. More thunderstorms possible Wednesday with heavy rain starting Friday An intense low pressure system from the Pacific basin is on track to stall out over the southern B.C. border by Friday, held in place by an even stronger low complex in northern Canada. This will allow persistent moisture to funnel in to southern Alberta, circulating counterclockwise around the Pacific low and creating an upsloping scenario whereby the Rocky Mountains serve as a topographical barrier and enhance precipitation accumulations east of the foothills. At the high end of forecast rainfall totals Calgary may see up to 90 to 100 millimetres over a few days, with more conservative estimates closer to 70 millimetres. June is typically the wettest month of the year in Calgary, with a 30-year average of 112.7 millimetres of precipitation over the month, or one-quarter of the annual precipitation for the city. This week's rainfall event will also coincide with the 12-year anniversary of the 2013 floods. More thunderstorms possible Wednesday with heavy rain starting Friday Temperatures will also drop over the weekend when colder air from the west edge of the northern low flows toward Alberta's southern border producing windy conditions. Daytime highs in Calgary over the weekend will likely be around 10 degrees below seasonal.
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Southern Alberta grasshopper population size dampened by rain
Farmers in southern Alberta are hopeful that rainfall has helped put a damper on grasshopper population sizes this year. A group of grasshoppers has the ability to wipe out a field of crops if they're not taken care of. While grasshopper outbreaks can be spotty, farmers know all too well the damage they can cause. 'Grasshoppers, they can totally decimate a crop. They can eat it almost right to the ground. So, it seems like if there's a few, there's a lot. And when there's a lot, they can do a lot of damage. Unless you get control of them right away,' said Sean Stanford, a farmer from Magrath, Alta. Grasshoppers flourish in hot and dry conditions like southern Alberta has seen this spring. But what rain the region has seen could help to keep the population down. 'They started hatching in mid-May, so it's a little bit early, and then they were clipped off by rain, and then they started hatching again and clipped off by that second good rain,' said Dan Johnson, a grasshopper expert and professor at the University of Lethbridge. 'A lot of places around southern Alberta had nine or 10 millimetres on about June 12 or so, so that wiped out a number of them.' Timely rain has kept the population at an average size. Any additional rain at this point won't stop more from hatching but can keep grasshopper numbers down. 'They're mostly in the older stages now, and they could probably take the rain, but when it rains, it's cool and they don't grow. They just wait it out. And the longer they wait it out … the lower survival they have,' said Johnson. While the population may not be significantly larger than last year. Farmers will still have to be on their toes. They'll do everything from spraying pesticides when there's an outbreak to more preventative measures. 'It seems like they overwinter in the ditches and the tall grass and things like that's where they get their eggs laid. So, if you can somehow keep your ditch grass shorter, that seems to be a help, because they seem to move in from the outsides of the field towards the middle,' said Stanford. The 2024 provincial grasshopper survey notes egg-laying conditions were ideal last fall. That means there's still a chance for large outbreaks to occur.
