Thirsty Canadian Prairie Awaits Storm

Nov 06, 2020

Ahead of this weekend’s expected snowstorm, much of the main agricultural area of Western Canada remains in desperate need of moisture.

As can be seen on the latest agroclimate impact map from Agriculture Canada (below), topsoil moisture was rated short to very short across most of Manitoba and Saskatchewan as of the end of October. And while soil moisture remains generally adequate in those Alberta areas straight north of Calgary and into the Peace region, things have dried out in the east-central and southeastern parts of the province compared to September.

Given the time of year, it is becoming increasingly important for topsoil moisture conditions to improve prior to the ground freezing completely for the winter. That makes this weekend’s storm - which is expected to drop up to 40 to 60 cm of snow in some localized areas - such an opportunity for improvement, although livestock stress and dangerous travel conditions are expected as well.

“In the Prairies, where the growing season is short, one of the keys to successful farming is to ensure there is significant subsoil moisture available to crops before the ground freezes up during the autumn,” World Weather Inc. said in a special weather statement Friday, ahead of the storm.

According to World Weather Inc., southern Alberta, southern and central Saskatchewan, and portions of Manitoba are dealing with short to critically short soil moisture as a result of drier than normal weather for the past three months and drought that began two years ago in some areas. Precipitation as a percent of normal for the 90-day period ending Nov. 2 ranged from 40% to 85% for a large portion of the Canadian Prairies.

The Weather Network forecast suggests the snow will begin in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning in extreme southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. By Saturday morning and afternoon, snowfall rates will start to intensify across southern areas of the two provinces, likely eventually spreading as far north as Calgary, Red Deer and Saskatoon. Some precipitation is expected to fall in northwestern Manitoba as well.

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