Significant snowfalls needed to end Saskatchewan drought: WSA | Globalnews.ca
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Significant snowfalls will be needed to end Saskatchewan’s drought, according to the 2023 freeze-up report from the Water Security Agency (WSA).
The report calculates freeze-up conditions in combination with the winter snowpack to create the base for the spring snowmelt runoff forecast.
According to previous provincial crop reports from summer 2023, most areas of the province experienced significant drought.
The hot and dry conditions have led the province to head into winter with below or well below normal soil moisture.
“While some areas of the province experienced higher than normal spring runoff events due to an unusually fast spring thaw, the last half of the summer and early fall was drier than normal,” a release from the WSA read.
Unless some areas receive extremely heavy snowfalls in the coming months, moisture levels are expected to remain at drought conditions.
“There is, however, concern of surface water supply issues in the southwest if winter snowfall is below average,” the release read. “In some cases, an above normal snowpack would be required to stave off extremely dry conditions.”
There are currently no areas of the province that are predicted to have above normal spring runoff levels in 2024.
An early snowfall event in the southern and east-central areas of the province has the potential to create two higher-runoff scenarios, according to the WSA, but the levels of moisture infiltration will not be calculated until February snow surveys.
The most recent November snowfalls were not included in the report but the province is still considered dry with few exceptions.
“The exception to this is the Regina area where considerable precipitation was received that would have improved fall soil moisture conditions to near normal. Across the southeast, the added moisture could potentially create a frost layer that may reduce infiltration in the spring,” the release read.
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