Abnormal dryness and drought lessened across Western Canada in August amid highly variable precipitation.
The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed 63% of Prairie agricultural lands impacted by abnormal dryness or drought as of Aug. 31, down from 87% at the end of July.
Much of the improvement came in the more southern and western Prairie areas, with dryness and drought increasing in the northern locations, the monitor said. In fact, much of southern and western Alberta as well as southeastern Saskatchewan received more than 150% of normal rainfall in August, while southwestern and northern Saskatchewan as well as parts of northern Alberta saw less than 40% of normal.
In Alberta, August precipitation helped to alleviate growing concerns in the south where areas of abnormally dry and moderate drought began to grow in July. Overall drought conditions improved in southern Alberta with the removal of a pocket of moderate drought northwest of Medicine Hat and a reduction of abnormally dry conditions throughout the area.
Farther north, central Alberta also experienced improvement to drought as severe and extreme drought was reduced around Edmonton. Severe drought remained east of Edmonton but shifted slightly northward. Conditions also improved in the Peace Region of Alberta as exceptional drought was removed, and all other drought classifications were reduced east of Grande Prairie.
Conditions were mixed in southern Saskatchewan, with improvement in the southeast but worsening dryness and drought in the southwest. The southwest saw the expansion of abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions as well as the addition of severe drought around Swift Current and along the U.S.-Canada border due to very low surface soil moisture and extremely low precipitation in the past two months.
Despite a wet spring, central Saskatchewan also experienced an expansion of abnormally dry conditions because of a significantly dry summer period - except for an area south of North Battleford due to near-normal precipitation over the past three months. Northern Saskatchewan experienced worsening drought in August as well.
Southern Manitoba saw only minor adjustments to drought in August as a small pocket of abnormally dry conditions emerged around Brandon but the remainder of the area remained drought-free. Northern Manitoba, however, saw worsening drought conditions.
