Map: Prairie Precipitation Deficits Worsen in March; Improve in Ontario

The month of March was a tale of two opposites, as precipitation deficits worsened across parts of Western Canada but showed significant improvement in Ontario. 

Below-normal precipitation dominated Western Canada during the month, with a large swath of the Prairies only seeing 40% or less. On the other hand, southern Ontario received anywhere between 115 and 150% of normal precipitation since January. 

At the end of the month, 83% of Prairie cropland was classified as abnormally dry or in some form of drought, up from 78% at the end of February. For the central region – which includes both Ontario and Quebec – abnormal dryness or drought was impacting just 5% of the cropland versus 17% a month earlier. 

For the Prairies, parts of southern Manitoba, central Saskatchewan and central Alberta saw the lowest amounts of precipitation during March.