Drought Improvement in March but Some Areas still Vulnerable

Drought concerns eased further across parts of Western Canada during March but the situation remains perilous heading into the spring planting season.

The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor shows that although significant amounts of snow fell across northern agricultural areas, a lack of precipitation across the southern Prairies last month led to either continued or deteriorating drought conditions.

Much of the expansion of drought occurred in southern Alberta, including a new pocket of extreme drought around Airdrie. An additional pocket of extreme drought was also brought back to Estevan, SK as precipitation deficits have re-emerged in the last nine months. Any remaining areas of extreme drought remained in place from Saskatoon to Swift Current and towards Alberta due to this area only receiving 40 to 60% of normal precipitation since March of last year, the monitor said.

On the other hand, the monitor noted the more northern agricultural areas from the Peace Region towards the southeastern corner of Manitoba have received 115 to 150% of normal precipitation since last October, with a few local areas receiving more than 200% of normal. As a result, abnormally dry conditions, as well moderate to severe drought, all improved and moved southward.

Some of the moisture also reached into south-central Saskatchewan, where severe drought was significantly improved from Melfort towards Saskatoon. The final remaining pocket of exceptional drought around Rosetown, SK was removed as well. Finally, much of southern Manitoba continued to see improved moisture conditions; a significant portion of severe drought was reduced and conditions especially improved around Winnipeg.

But while March and the rest of the winter did bring considerable drought relief across the Prairies, the monitor said any return to drier weather would quickly undo the gains.

“While there have been substantial improvements to drought conditions across Western Canada since last summer (particularly in BC, southern Manitoba and the northern agricultural regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta), many of these areas remain extremely vulnerable to drought going forward, as a result of low soil moisture reserves and depleted water supplies,” it said.

“An extended dry period this spring or summer would impact crops and pastures quicker and more severely as a result.”

The long-term outlook from World Weather Inc. suggests the Prairies will see better rainfall this growing season following last season’s drought. However, relief this spring may be later in coming to those areas that need it most.