| Comments | Saskatchewan and Alberta, March 1 to July 1, 2009. The Canadian Wheat Board projected lower crop prospects by 20 per cent across the Prairies. A dozen counties and municipal districts in Alberta declared a state of drought emergency or disaster. For example, Saskatoon had less than one-quarter of the usual amount of spring precipitation, making the months of March, April and May the driest since record-keeping began in 1892. It wasn't just spring that was dry. The soil moisture recharge period between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009 had less than 60 per cent of normal precipitation. To the west, in Alberta, conditions were even drier, as illustrated by precipitation amounts in Edmonton, where the 12- month total rain and snow from July 2008 to June 2009 was only 234 mm, less than half of normal and the driest such period with records dating back to 1880. Making matters worse, eight of the last ten years in Alberta's capital of Edmonton had less rain and snow than the 30-year average total, but no year was as scanty as the most recent. Not surprisingly, the flow of the North Saskatchewan River was at its third lowest level in nearly a century. |