Canada-Weather forecast.
CANADA-HOW IT REALLY IS.
If you work for Environment Canada or know anyone who does, please stop reading this story and go to another page.
The name Jeff Woodward may not be familiar to many people in the southwest, but his uncle definitely is.
Woodward, a resident of Regina and an Environment Canada employee, has unofficially taken the family reigns predicting the weather using a pig spleen. These skills were displayed by his legendary uncle Gus Wickstrom, who sadly passed away in the early summer of 2007.
As Wickstrom always said, the pig spleen predictions are, on the average, 80 per cent correct which is more on the money than Environment Canada’s forecasts. Just don’t tell Woodward’s employers that.
In 2008, he and Woodward’s family were doing it, but now the job is falling more to Jeff Woodward himself.
This year’s predictions were done in early December 2008, but just within the family confines, unlike the theatrical and extremely entertaining methods Wickstrom employed each year.
"We sort of did it as a group ... sort of a private thing," said Woodward, acknowledging and paying tribute to his uncle’s showmanship. "It’s very entertaining for us (though)."
Woodward said while he doesn’t actually make the predictions out in public, his predictions have caught the media’s attention in Regina. He has been on the Wolf radio station numerous times and has been in contact with Angel Blair from Global Television.
"Last year, I was getting quite a lot of press, this year, not as much," explained Woodward. The media is still interested.
Pig spleen weather predictions were in Wickstrom’s family for 200 years, originating in Sweden.
Each year Wickstrom, who lived in Tompkins, used to receive a pig spleen donated from the Carmichael Hutterite colony. He preferred using spleens from older hogs weighing between 400 and 700 lbs, because they have larger spleens, which are easier to read.
The shape of the spleen changes from top to bottom, making it easy to determine which area of the spleen corresponds to each month. As he learned from his grandfather, Wickstrom only predicted from January until June.
Wickstrom told Prairie Post how it’s done.
"Spots along the spleen are thicker and thinner," said Wickstrom. "Where it is thicker, that shows wind and snow and cold weather. Softer spots mean warmer weather, and firm areas show cold or moisture."
Wickstrom also explained along the backside of the spleen, there is a layer of fat. If the layer of fat is thicker than usual, it indicates precipitation will be high.
For the record, Woodward’s February predictions were dead on: "increasing precipitation towards the end of the month."
Gus would be proud.
Jeff Woodward’s 2009 predictions:
March: Temperature during the month of March will tend toward normal.
April: Temperature during the month of April will tend toward normal.
May: Temperatures during the month will start out normal, but will tend toward above normal on May 11 and will be warmer than normal for the end of May to June 15.
June: Above temperatures during
the first half of June. After June 15, temperatures will return to near normal.
Precipitation:
February: Increasing precipitation toward the end of the month.
A general weather trend will start around February 21 and last until March 17. The peak of this system will be March 3-5.
From March 10 to April 5, there will be a definite east/west split in Sask. provincial weather. East of Swift Current will tend to more of winter conditions and west of Swift Current will tend to more mild, spring conditions.
Precipitation for April will be normal, nothing stands out.
Precipitation for May will centre around the 10th with a big rain.
Precipitation for June will be centred around June 10 with rain and possible rain/snow. Although above average daily temps, there is a risk of night frost between June 10 and 25.
The east/west split between Swift Current will again be pronounced during the month of June. June 16 is a date to keep in mind as there will be a major event — might be political.
