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Many people are waiting for rain to help in the wildfire fight in northern Saskatchewan, but whether that is coming is the big question that looms.
Environment Canada Meteorologist Shannon Moodie said we’re in a bit of an unsettled pattern weather-wise. Still, nothing major is expected to appear in the forecast over the next couple of days.
“What you’re really going to see is just like scattered showers and thunderstorms developing. So nothing that’s really going to give like a long-duration rain.”
Listen to The Greg Morgan Morning Show here:
In wildfire areas like Candle Lake, there’s a 30 per cent chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday. It’s a similar story for Weyakwin, Buffalo Narrows, Île-à-la-Crosse and La Ronge during the day on Monday and into the night.
Lead Forecaster David Phillips said on the Greg Morgan Morning Show that a 30 per cent chance of rain is not a lot.
“I don’t even carry an umbrella for 30 per cent.”
He said there has been a lack of rain in the province — aside from the most recent dump of rain over the May long weekend — which saw Estevan get 70 millimetres of rain (nearly three inches), Radville gets over 100 mm (roughly four inches) of rain, and Regina about 25 mm (nearly an inch) of rain.
But he said it hasn’t rained at all in the past 12 days.
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However, Phillips said the one good thing is that it has cooled off slightly, with the 30°C temperatures not expected this week.
“They’re like 20°Cor 21°C, very close to seasonal and that’s comfortable. For people fighting fires, that is a blessing. It’s hard to fight fires when you’ve got poor air quality; the cool temperatures are welcomed.”
He expects the rain we will see in the province is more of a nuisance rain, adding that it can be troubling with the dry conditions.
“We’re getting into the month of lightning. We haven’t had that, but we’re going to get that. There’s not a lot of good news.”
As it sits, Phillips said the whole summer is looking quite dry in Saskatchewan.
“Precipitation is hard to get right day to day, let alone month to month, but the models seem to suggest that warmer is clearly in the cards. But in terms of precipitation, it’s going to be just really looking to the west and seeing that horizon getting darkened and hoping you get some precipitation,” he said.
“It’s going to be tough. We’re we’re in a bankrupt situation now and we’re going to keep withdrawing moisture from the bank and it’s not good.”
Meanwhile, despite the official start of summer still three weeks away, Phillips said there has already been quite a bit of summer weather in the prairies.
“Often at this time of the year, we’re saying, ‘When is summer going to start?’ My God, I think people in Saskatchewan and the prairies really have had too much summer already.”
Phillips said there is a ridge of high pressure sitting over the province, causing there to be no changes in the weather.
“We’re always happier and better off when the weather changes. You get three or four good days, and then it’s followed by a bad day — kind of a break from that — and you’re back into the good weather,” he said
“We’re just stuck in this almost weather-free zone, and it’s just been too long.”
Moodie said there is still some smoke wafting through Saskatchewan as of Monday morning, but things have improved from the weekend.
“They are below our threshold now, and we are just going to continue to see some improvement in the smoke. But as long as those fires remain, there’s still always that chance that they’re going to that the smoke is going to waft back in.”
