Prairie Drought Removal, Improvement Expected

A huge swath of drought spanning parts of all three Prairie provinces is expected to be removed as soon as the end of this month.

As the map below shows, drought removal is projected for virtually all of Manitoba, much of eastern Saskatchewan and parts of northern Alberta by the end of February. If not complete removal, some improvement in drought is expected in most other Prairie areas. The only real exception is a few isolated pockets along the far western edges of the drought in Alberta, where conditions in some cases are in fact likely to get worse.

Much of the area where drought removal is expected is currently in moderate to severe drought, while those areas slated for improvement are mostly in extreme drought.

Released last week, the latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor noted a ‘mixed bag’ in terms of January precipitation, with central and Prairie northern areas doing better while the driest areas in the south continued to get short changed.

Some Prairie areas have been in drought in for as long as three to four years, with last year’s dryness particularly devastating for farmers.

In the latest edition of the Canadian Agricultural Weather Prognosticator, World Weather Inc. meteorologist Drew Lerner said he continues to expect the central and southwestern Prairie to come into the spring notably short on soil moisture. Other Prairie areas, including much of Manitoba and northern portions of both Alberta and Saskatchewan, have done much better in terms of snowfall and are expected to be in a better position in terms of spring planting moisture.