Agricultural moisture situation looking better as of Sept. 7

Synopsis

Since the last report, (August 28th) conditions have remained dry across most agricultural areas with the exception of a large corridor of land lying between Edmonton and Red Deer, extending between Rocky Mountain House and St. Paul.

Many lands here received moderate amounts of rain, ranging from 5 to 10mm (Map 1). In addition, temperatures remained well above normal province wide into early September, with recent days ushering in a cooler trend as fall like weather emerges ahead of winter. 30-day Temperature and Precipitation Trends

Over the past 30days it has been extremely hot and dry with much of Alberta experiencing weather this warm less than once in 50-years (Map 2). Along with the above average temperatures, most agricultural areas received below normal rainfall with areas around Red Deer, Edmonton, Lloydminster, Grande Prairie and High Level nudging into the one in 50-year dry category (Map 3), looking back as far as 1961.

During this recent heat wave, most agricultural areas received less than 20 mm of rain (Map 4), with the exception of the southwest portions of the province and lands along the foothills where more than 30 mm was recorded. It’s notable that some widely scattered areas received less than 5 mm of moisture.

60-day Precipitation Trends

For some lands, the dry spell extends back at least 60-days with many areas in each of the four regions receiving less than 40 mm of rain.

These exceptionally dry areas are largely focused in and around Medicine Hat, Calgary, Edmonton, the MD of Bonnyville, the County of Barrhead and parts of the west-central Peace Region.

Perspective

Despite the extreme heat over the past month and well below normal rainfall, overall (provincially) crops fared well as a result of a cool wet start to the season, with June rains largely responsible for seeing crops through critical growth stages and supplying enough moisture for subsequent growth, allowing them to potentially exceed the 5 and 10- year yield averages.

Moving forward, a relatively wet and warm fall would help alleviate moisture stress in pastures and on hay land.

In addition, overly depleted soil moisture reserves will benefit from additional moisture this fall, overwinter and into the early spring.

There is still ample time between now and the next growing season to build soil moisture reserves and surface water supplies to acceptable levels ahead of next year’s spring growth.