Favourable weather

There have been severe flooding problems in many parts of Saskatchewan and the worst may be yet to come. However, we’ve actually been lucky with the weather over the past couple months. Temperatures throughout March were much colder than normal, slowing the snow melt. That has continued into April with most days cooler than average for this time of year. The cool weather means a late spring, but it has probably prevented some damage. Precipitation has also been kind to most of the province. Precipitation maps published by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada show that over the past month only southern regions of Saskatchewan have received above normal precipitation. The highest precipitation has been southwest of Swift Current and south of Gravelbourg. The rest of the Saskatchewan grain belt has had below normal precipitation since the middle of March. Saturated areas on the east side of the province could easily have received another one or two inches of moisture and that would have exasperated the problems. It may be difficult to count blessings in areas where most of the landscape is covered with water, but without this favourable weather, the problems could be even worse. I’m Kevin Hursh.