Soil moisture was near to below normal in most Manitoba basins prior to winter freeze-up, according to a provincial hydrological report released Thursday.
Most river basins in the province received below-normal precipitation between May and October and above-normal temperatures in the summer and fall months with some improvement in precipitation in November, the report said. Meanwhile, the long-term weather outlooks from Environment Canada and the U.S. Climate Prediction Centre indicate the development of La Nina weather conditions globally, which generally favour normal to below-normal precipitation for most Manitoba basins, it added.
The lack of moisture already in the ground and the potential for below-normal winter precipitation is bad news for Manitoba producers, who, along with farmers in much of the rest of Western Canada, suffered through the worst summer drought in decades this past summer.
In fact, southern Manitoba was Canada's epicenter for drought, especially in the Red River Valley and the Interlake region. Some places like Winnipeg had their two driest back-to-back years in over a century. Further, the 60-day period from early June to mid-August in Winnipeg and environs featured 25 days with temperatures above 30 degrees C.
In a news conference yesterday, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler suggested 2022 growing conditions could be difficult as well, unless the province gets at least 100 centimetres of snow before spring.
Most major lakes in Manitoba with the exception of Lake Manitoba are at below normal to well-below normal levels for this time of the year but within their operating ranges. Lake Manitoba is below its operating range and near record-low levels for this time of year.
The spring run-off in the province is still strongly dependent on future weather conditions, including the amount of winter and spring precipitation, as well as snowmelt conditions.
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