Dryness and drought continued to shrink across the Prairies in September following a series of rainfall events that impacted western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta in particular.
Released Tuesday, the latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor shows 42% of Prairie agricultural land impacted by abnormal dryness or some form of drought as of the end of September (see map below). That is down 21 points from the end of August and 45 points below the end of July.
A large area along the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan as well as pockets of southeastern Manitoba received more than 115% of normal precipitation in September, “providing significant rechange to systems that have been in drought for several years,” the monitor said. On the other hand, western and northern parts of Alberta and pockets of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were drier than normal, recording less than 60% of normal precipitation.
The bottom line was an improvement in drought conditions in Manitoba, as well as southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta. However, other areas were not as lucky, with northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan each experiencing a slight expansion of abnormally dry and drought conditions.
In Alberta, abnormal dryness was eliminated in areas of the southeast in September, while dryness and drought were reduced in the southwest. Drought conditions in central Alberta remained largely unchanged. In northern Alberta, abnormally dry conditions expanded, while further south, extreme drought around Grande Prairie expanded slightly.
As for Saskatchewan, the rain in September led to the removal of severe drought around Swift Current and the overall reduction of abnormally dry to moderate drought across the southern part of the province. In east-central Saskatchewan, abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions expanded, with a new pocket of moderate drought emerging near Melfort.
September rainfall in Manitoba was highly variable. Most of the southeast remained drought-free due to high precipitation, resulting in standing water and significant harvest delays. However, abnormally dry conditions expanded in the southwest towards Dauphin due to short-term precipitation deficits, and the southern Interlake region also saw abnormally dry conditions take hold due to precipitation deficits and low soil moisture.
