Some November Improvement in Prairie Dryness

November brought some relief but many Prairie areas are still not out of the woods yet when it comes to drought.

According to the latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor, northern Alberta and Saskatchewan experienced notable improvement in abnormally dry conditions and moderate drought in the wake of significant precipitation during November. However, the southern Prairies saw minimal to no improvement (see map below).

For example, Red Deer has only received 13% of normal precipitation over the past 90 days, leading to the development of extreme drought in the area. And while eastern Alberta did see minimal improvement in select areas, the near-normal precipitation that fell in November did little to improve long-lasting impacts from the summer months, leaving extreme drought relatively unchanged, the monitor said.

On the other hand, moderate to heavy precipitation across the Peace River region and through central Saskatchewan in November led to a reduction in abnormally dry and moderate drought areas. Along the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, above-average precipitation in November allowed for a reduction in exceptional drought around Lloydminster and Vermillion. The southwest corner of Saskatchewan also received similar precipitation through the month of November, leading to improvements to extreme and exceptional drought.

In Manitoba, significant improvements were made to long-term extreme and exceptional drought in the central region of the province as it received 115 to 200% of normal precipitation in the past 60 days. Despite these improved conditions however, long-term drought impacts continue to persist, the monitor said.

But while many Prairie regions continue to be plagued by drought, the latest Canadian Agricultural Weather Prognosticator from World Weather Inc. suggests some optimism for next year may still be in order. After a dry start to the new-crop growing season, there is the potential for relief later in the spring and into the summer. Indeed, the report said confidence is rising over a better year in 2022 “with many of the worst drought impacted areas likely to get some needed moisture during the growing season.”