Heavy rain leaves parts of Sask. dealing with washouts, closures and soggy Canada Day plans

He said the most intense rainfall was near the Manitoba border, where Saskatchewan Forestry stations recorded totals approaching 100 millimetres (mm) over roughly 48 hours. Farther west, the impact was less severe, while communities in the eastern parkland saw the heaviest totals.

Across Saskatchewan, Proctor said there were numerous funnel cloud reports Monday, mainly north of Highway 1 and around Highway 16, including one near Hague. He said most were non-tornadic funnel clouds and there were no widespread damage reports associated with them.

“Really the important story, I think more than anything else, was that rainfall across the parkland, especially in the east,” he said. “That was very, very impactful.”

The rain has created issues for municipalities and local parks even further west. The RM of Nipawin said it is aware of serious road problems developing throughout the municipality after recent weather made it difficult to keep pace with deterioration on some routes.

The RM asked motorists to obey barricades and road closures, saying they are in place for public safety and to protect maintenance crews.

Nipawin and District Regional Park also asked the public to stay out of Rotary Park and the road down to the marina after two bank collapses. Heavy equipment was brought in to repair the road, and park officials said traffic was making it difficult to stage material and complete the work.

Road issues have also been reported in the far eastern part of Saskatchewan. The provincial Highway Hotline provides current highway conditions, including closures, construction zones and other road advisories, and says its information is updated three times a day or as conditions require.

The wet weather is affecting Canada Day plans. In Prince Albert, events organized by the multicultural council have been moved from the riverbank to the exhibition grounds, including the fireworks show. With Kinsmen Park too wet, events hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion have been moved to the parking lot shared with the union centre.

In St. Brieux, emergency services said its Canada Day fireworks show have been postponed until the August long weekend because the firing site is too wet to safely hold the display.

The St. Brieux & District Emergency Services department said Canada Day fireworks are postponed to the August long weekend after their staging grounds became too saturated to work in safely. (Image Credit: Facebook/St. Brieux Emergency Services)

Proctor said the wet pattern will likely continue in the short term around Prince Albert and much of the surrounding area, with showers possible through Friday and into Saturday. Daytime highs are expected to run around 19 C to 22 C, slightly below normal for this time of year.

Conditions are expected to improve somewhat by the weekend as a ridge builds in, pushing temperatures closer to 26 C by Monday and bringing some drying.

However, Proctor said the amount of moisture in the region means thunderstorms could quickly return once warmer air arrives.

“Once you get moisture, we tend to recycle that moisture in thunderstorms for quite a while,” he said. “I would expect warmer temperatures to move into that first full week of July, but again, I think the thunderstorm possibilities are definitely going to be there.”

While the rain has soaked central and eastern areas, Proctor noted it did not reach the far north, where wildfire concerns remain.

“It’s the two sides of the coin across all three Prairie provinces,” he said. “The north being warm and dry, and the central and south being much more unsettled.”

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Heavy rain leaves parts of Sask. dealing with washouts, closures and soggy Canada Day plans

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