Prairie abnormal dryness and drought was relatively little changed in July compared to a month earlier, with improvements in some areas and deterioration in others.
The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed 81% of Prairie agricultural lands were being impacted by abnormal dryness or drought as of the end of July. That is down a modest 2 points from the end of June but still above 72% in May and up sharply from 41% in April.
The northern and central Prairies saw exceptionally low precipitation in July, rapidly deepening drought in those regions, the monitor said. On the other hand, southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan saw significant improvement with well above-normal precipitation which began to replenish soil moisture and improve surface water supplies, “delivering much-needed respite from the drought conditions.”
Precipitation was highly variable across Western Canada in July. Southern Alberta and parts of southwestern Saskatchewan received over 150% of normal precipitation, while northern agricultural and forested areas across all three provinces remained dry.
Some areas such as La Ronge, North Battleford, and Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and The Pas and Thompson in Manitoba received less than 25% of normal monthly precipitation. Central Saskatchewan, east-central Alberta, and Manitoba’s Interlake saw less than 40% of normal precipitation, with some Interlake areas receiving under 30 mm.
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