Drought conditions ease slightly across dry Canadian Prairies

AAFC – Mixed precipitation throughout January helped drought conditions improve across much of the Canadian Prairies during the month, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released Feb. 8. However, conditions deteriorated in some areas and the majority of Western Canada was still in some kind of drought state.

A north-south divide of precipitation saw central and northern areas of the Prairies see above-normal moisture while southern regions of the Prairie provinces saw lower than normal precipitation.

Drought conditions generally improved in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but the area of extreme drought grew slightly in southern Alberta, according to the report. Extreme drought regions were still found in central Saskatchewan and parts of Manitoba, but the coverage area was significantly reduced.

While the precipitation that did fall will not fully help the ground recover from long-term moisture deficits, “it has allowed for slight improvement across the region,” said AAFC.

The Prairie region was classified as 61 per cent abnormally dry or in moderate to exceptional drought as of Jan. 31, 2022. That accounts for 95 per cent of the agricultural area in the region. That was down from 67 per cent and 98 per cent respectively the previous month.