(File photo)

By Nolan Kowal

Rain rain go away!

Wet Saskatchewan spring standing out among recent dry years

Jun 13, 2024 | 3:00 PM

North-central Saskatchewan has received above average rainfall this spring, but it might not be as bad as some would be led to believe.

Environment and Climate Change Canada pointed out that recent years have been extremely dry, making 2024 seem a little bit more pronounced with all of the precipitation falling in the province.

“It’s been quite dry (the last couple years), so I think then people think that’s how it’s supposed to be, where as it’s actually supposed to be sort of wet at this time of year,” said Meteorologist Terri Lang.

In May in Prince Albert, Lang said there was about 40 millimetres of rain. The average is right around 68 millimetres. By contrast, last year Prince Albert had just 17.3 millimetres of rain in May.

So far in June, Prince Albert has already had 68.8 millimetres fall in the city. The average is 86.4 millimetres.

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“June is the wettest month of the year, followed closely by July,” said Lang, adding that June of last year was also an extremely wet month in Prince Albert with multiple storms rolling through. “It’s definitely been wet, but again I think that’s closer to what it’s supposed to be doing versus what it has been doing over the last couple years.”

The northeast region of the province has also gotten a healthy dose of rain over the last week. According to a news release from the province, Lake Lenore has received 81 millimetres of rain while Arborfield has gotten 78 millimetres. The excessive rainfall has led to some crop flooding in those areas, the province said.

Meanwhile, Lang said Melfort has received 54.3 millimetres of rain in June, which is very close to the monthly average.

The wet weather has even wreaked havoc on golf courses. Melfort Golf & Country Club was forced to close for a couple days after the course got soaked.

“Tuesday it rained another inch and that’s when the golf course was unable to absorb that much rain that day and it pooled up and unfortunately we had to close for the better part of a couple days,” said Kevin Ryhorchuk, the course’s manager.

The course was able to re-open on Thursday with some restrictions in place.

“I’ve been here for 30 some years and I can’t recall us ever closing for that weather,” Ryhorchuk said.

All of the rain has led to another key question for Environment Canada. Will the rain continue into the summer months?

“The summer forecast which is June, July, August is forecasting above average temperatures,” said Lang, adding that long-range precipitation is not easy to forecast.

More showers are in the forecast for north-central Saskatchewan this weekend.

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nolan.kowal@pattisonmedia.com