Map: Time Growing Shorter for Meaningful Dryness Relief

Mostly dry weather may be allowing the Prairie harvest to progress ahead of the average pace in most cases, but time is also running out to get moisture into the ground ahead of winter freeze up. 

As the map below shows, soil moisture is well below normal in large pockets of all three Prairie provinces, especially Alberta. With the next week or so expected to be mostly dry across Western Canada – except for parts of Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan – the window for meaningful relief closes just a little bit more before the ground freezes for winter, potentially sometime in November. 

Depending on the winter season and the spring thaw, many farmers could again be facing a lack of soil moisture for spring planting. - a problem that now goes back years in some locations. 

The outlook for fall precipitation, however, is uncertain.