Drought Concerns Alleviated With Rain This Week

For farmers concerned about drought again this year, the heavy rain and even snow that hit many regions of the province this week, should help to ease some of those concerns.

There are still ongoing concerns about flooding from the storm this week, which in some places, dumped well over 100 millimetres of rain. But many experts believe that the dry parched land in parts of southern Alberta, soaked up a lot of the water and reduced the risk of overland flooding, like folks in Manitoba have seen this spring. Alberta Environment is keeping a close eye on rivers and streams across the province this week. 

At this point there are no fears of a repeat of the flood 9 years ago that swamped a big chunk of downtown Calgary along with several other communities including the town of High River. Although one weather official said if we should get a second storm like this in the coming days, then flooding could be an issue.  Several farmers on Twitter today describing the rain this week as a gift.