Wet news: Conditions now ‘normal’

By Collin Gallant on November 21, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com| @CollinGallant

A rainy September delayed harvest and snow this fall has led to no shortage of opinions from motorists, but wet conditions have essentially brought the region’s soil moisture back to normal, Alberta Agriculture is reporting.

That’s after near-drought conditions in southeast Alberta for the last 16 months.

“When we talk about near normal in southeast Alberta, we mean dry,” said Ralph Wright, the manager of agro-meteorological services with Alberta Agriculture.

His office this week reported that soil moisture across the province has improved with wetter conditions in the autumn and even snowfall that’s arrived before the ground freezes.

“It doesn’t take much to take (subsurface moisture) back to that normal, and rain since Sept. 15 has brought it back to the generally dry state.

“It’s been cold enough that there hasn’t been a lot of evaporation,” said Wright.

A wet dreary September, including early snow, caused headaches for producers who rushed to gather heat-stunted crops.

After a dry summer, ranchers are now grappling with high prices for hay after second cuts on non-irrigated land were non-existent.

Adding moisture now for fall seeded crops and next year is a positive, said Wright, but the important window for agriculture producers in the deep south of the province is the late spring.

Data shows that Medicine Hat’s recent dry spell actually began in June 2017, when the rain tapered off earlier than usual and was followed by a typical dry summer, followed by a cold fall.

Between then and the beginning of this month, weather stations in the Hat, Ralston and Irvine recorded about 50 per cent less precipitation than normal.

In an average year those stations should see between 320 to 350 millimetres (equal to 13 to 15 inches), but over the past 12 months, less than 200 mm was recorded.

That made it the second or third driest year since 1962, said Wright.

However, thanks to snow and rain since Labour Day, subsoil moisture is now considered “near normal” for almost all of Cypress County and all of County of Forty Mile, and the Municipal District of Taber.

The exception is a small area directly north of Medicine Hat, which is considered “moderately low”, as well as Newell County westward to the foothills, one of the driest spots in Alberta throughout the summer.

Moisture in most of the Special Areas is currently moderately high.

In Southwest Saskatchewan, soil moisture remains a concern, that province’s crop report stated on Nov. 5, but slow melting snow in September and November has improved conditions.

Heading into winter, cropland soil moisture is considered 59 per cent adequate, and 37 per cent short, with the number reversed for hayland and pastures.

Timing of rainfall did cause some trouble for producers planning winter wheat. Below average acres were planted as farmers feared dry conditions wouldn’t allow plants to get established before the freeze up.

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