April brought highly variable precipitation across Western Canada, but the bottom line was a modest increase in abnormal dryness and drought compared to March.
The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed 41% of Prairie agricultural lands impacted by abnormal dryness or some form of drought as of the end of last month. That’s up from 32% In March and 23% at the end of February.
According to the monitor, a broad area from east-central Alberta through central Saskatchewan and into southern and central Manitoba saw well below-normal April precipitation, with some areas receiving less than 40% of normal. Alberta's Peace Region was shortchanged as well, receiving under 60% of normal precipitation.
On the other hand, much of the rest of the Prairies received between 85% and over 200% of normal precipitation, with the highest precipitation amounts falling across northern and southeastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and southwestern Manitoba. Much of this came in the form of a late-month snowstorm that brought snowfall amounts upwards of 30cm across southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.
Alberta saw improvements to drought in west-central areas in April, but worsening drought in the southwest. A new pocket of extreme drought developed along the southern Foothills due to long-term precipitation deficits, well below normal snowpack reported over the winter, low surface water levels and dry soils, the monitor said.
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