Snow moving east

Grainews writer Gerald Pilger sent these photos taken this morning in his farmyard near Ohaton, Alta., which is in the Camrose area. I guess this can be expected on the Prairies. It's still April after all. And word is, this system will move across the Prairies this weekend.

Gerald writes:

As dry as it is, the snow is actually great, however with a temperature of -11°C last night, -6°C the night before and no above freezing night time lows forecast for the next week, it is not great seeding weather. Yesterday we reached a HIGH of 0°C.

He concluded his email with this:

The sun is now the dimmest it has been for nearly a century. There are no sunspots and very few solar flares.We have not seen so few sunspots since 1913, and if the sun does not become active in the next few months, it will comparable to 1815-16 when the world experienced "the year without a summer." 

Last spring, I wrote a short piece comparing sunspot activities to the prices of wheat. If the world economic crisis does not play havoc with the theory, farmers may enjoy record high prices of wheat over the next year. Unfortunately that will be because of a shortage of wheat due to lack of heat. Time will tell.