Grain shippers hopeful that CP trains keep moving

Apr 26, 2018

Grain shippers are welcoming the news that a work stoppage at CP Rail has been avoided for now following a recommendation from federal officials and the parties to hold a ratification vote.

The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) says a work stoppage this week on CP would have had a devastating impact on grain shippers, farmers and end-use customers in a year that has already been very challenging.

“We would like to thank Minister Hadju, the federal mediators, CP and the unions for working hard to help avoid a disruption in service,” said WGEA Executive Director Wade Sobkowich. “Minister Hadju’s interaction on this demonstrates the Government’s understanding of the need to ensure that the Canadian economy does not suffer from an avoidable rail work stoppage.”

WGEA notes rail service was unacceptably low throughout the winter of 2017/18, and a work stoppage at CP would have made it impossible to salvage the shipping season.

“We hope that this is not just a delay, but a step forward in resolving this labour negotiation,” added Sobkowich. “The impacts of a work stoppage would have hit Canadians that are employed in industries that rely on rail the hardest, rather than either CP management or the unions, and we applaud the government and the parties for getting an acceptable package on the table.”

Source : Discoverestevan

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.