Drought Better in Some Prairie Areas in October; Worse in Others

Substantial rain and snow across the southern areas failed to put much of dent in the Prairie drought in October. 

In fact, even though the precipitation may have tamped down the intensity of drought in the south, the latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor Thursday showed up to 98% of Prairie farmland was still being impacted by either abnormal dryness or drought as of the end of October - up 9 points from a month earlier – as conditions generally worsened farther north. 

Precipitation across much of the southern Prairies was above normal in October, with the foothills region of Alberta, southwest Saskatchewan and the Winnipeg area of Manitoba all receiving more than 200% of normal precipitation.  

On the other hand, central and northern Alberta received less than 60% of normal precipitation during the month, while central and northern Saskatchewan saw less than 40% of normal. It was the same story in Manitoba, with the northern areas getting less than 60% of normal. 

In southern Alberta, the October moisture certainly helped, but long-term drought nonetheless remained across much of the area, with pockets of extreme and exceptional drought.