Drought across Western Canada remained materially unchanged in March, even after storms brought significant precipitation to various parts of the region.
The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed 99% of Prairie farmland impacted by abnormal dryness or some of drought as of the end of last month, an increase of 4 points from February.
The Prairies as a whole trended drier than normal in March, although some agricultural areas did much better in terms of precipitation.
Much of the precipitation in Alberta fell along the Rocky Mountains, across southern agricultural areas, and near Fort McMurray in the province's northeastern corner. However, the Peace Region and the area surrounding Edmonton east towards the Saskatchewan border continued to miss out on much-needed moisture.
“This concerning trend of significantly below-normal precipitation continued across central and northern parts of the province,” the monitor said, noting those areas have received less than 50% of normal precipitation since the end of September 2023.
Pockets of extreme and exceptional drought in southeastern Alberta did shrink slightly in March. There was also a slight improvement to drought between Edmonton and the Peace Region, but most other drought areas remained.
“Much more moisture will be needed to fully amend the significant long-term deficits in southern Alberta,” the monitor said.
The majority of agricultural Saskatchewan received near-to above-normal precipitation in March, with central Saskatchewan and the southwest corner of the province receiving 150 to 200% of normal precipitation.
Southwestern Saskatchewan saw some drought improvement, including a reduction in moderate, severe, and extreme drought conditions, due to storm systems. However, this area has yet to fully recover from long-term precipitation deficits, the monitor said. Drought conditions across the rest of the province remained relatively unchanged compared to February.
Drought conditions remained relatively unchanged across southern Manitoba in March, with extreme drought conditions persisting. Southeastern Manitoba did see slight improvement that led to the reduction of severe drought conditions around Portage La Prairie and from Morden towards Emerson along the Manitoba-U.S. border.
