For the first time in more than six years, drought has completely disappeared across the agricultural regions of Western Canada.
The latest monthly update of the Canadian drought monitor showed just 3% of Prairie agricultural lands were being impacted by abnormally dry conditions – but no drought – as of the end of the end of June. According to the monitor, it marked the first time since March 2020 that no part of the Prairie agricultural region was classified in drought.
Only small pockets of abnormal dryness remained along the southern border because of lingering short- and long-term moisture deficits.
The improvement followed an unusually wet and cool June across much of the Prairies, where several large, slow-moving storm systems and frequent thunderstorms delivered substantial rainfall.
Three major storm periods — May 31 to June 2, June 19 to 24 and June 26 to 30 — brought heavy precipitation to central and southern agricultural areas. A broad stretch from Grande Prairie and Edmonton through Yorkton, Swan River, Dauphin, Winnipeg and northern Manitoba received well-above-normal rainfall.
Several Prairie locations recorded one of their five wettest Junes on record. Edmonton received 385% of normal precipitation, while Broadview, Sask., recorded 291% and Swan River, Man., received 315%. Some areas in all three provinces approached or exceeded 300% of their normal June rainfall.
The moisture sharply reduced drought across southern and west-central Alberta, while conditions also improved in Alberta’s Peace region and along the southern borders of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Areas previously classified in drought were either downgraded to abnormally dry or removed from the drought monitor entirely.
Still, conditions were not uniformly wet. Northwestern Alberta, parts of north-central Saskatchewan and northwestern Manitoba received below-normal precipitation, allowing drought to develop or persist outside the main agricultural area.
Across the broader Prairie region, 11% of the land remained classified as abnormally dry or in moderate to severe drought.
At the end of May, 19% of Prairie agricultural lands were being impacted by abnormal dryness or some form of drought.
