Moisture situation update as of October 15, 2018

 
  From the October 22, 2018 issue of Agri-News
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 Ralph Wright, manager of the agro-meteorological applications and modelling section with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF), analyzes the data.

Synopsis:
“Across the province, September and the first half of October were exceptionally cool (see map 1),” says Wright. “Temperatures this low are estimated to occur less than once in 50 years. Along with the cold weather, there was a marked shift from generally dryer than normal conditions that many experienced during June, July, and August (see map 2), to at least near-normal moisture for most of the province (see map 3). However, one notable exception exists through a portion of the northern Peace region, where one in 50 year low precipitation accumulations are depicted. In sharp contrast, some areas between the Yellowhead Highway in the north and the TransCanada Highway in the south have experienced above average accumulations.”

Wright says that over the past four weeks, much of the recent precipitation fell as snow or as a rain-snow mix on several different occasions. “Few, if any, agricultural areas escaped at least some temporary snow cover at one time or another. The first major snowfall event occurred as early at the end of the second week in September. It affected a wide area stretching east to west across the province from as far north as the Grande Prairie, down to at least Red Deer.”

“Calgary received upwards of 40 cm of snow during a major cold snap that brought freezing temperatures province-wide, ranging from -4 C to -12 C in the early morning hours of October 3. By the time this system had passed through, most lands south of Red Deer and down to the U.S. border had seen least some snow accumulate, only to melt over the following days. “

“The week of October 7 to 13 saw yet another blast of cold arctic air. It resulted in snow cover across many lands north or Red Deer stretching all the way up through the Peace Region, with a large area west of Lloydminster experiencing upwards of 30 cm of snow.”

Find more information at weatherdata.ca, Agricultural Moisture Situation Updates, or contact Ralph Wright, manager of the agro-meteorological applications and modelling section at 780-446-6831.

Contact:
Ralph Wright
780-446-6831

 
 
 
 
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For more information about the content of this document, contact Ralph Wright.
This document is maintained by Christine Chomiak.
This information published to the web on October 17, 2018.