Winnipeg — Early September rains will likely interrupt harvest progress in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but producers will still likely be able to avoid frost, according to a meteorologist.
Harvest will be forced to operate around rains that are expected between Sept. 6 and 9, said Drew Lerner, president of World Weather Inc.
“We’ve been spoiled the last couple years where we just went dry and stayed dry, and this is going to be a more typical autumn harvest season. It will be disrupted periodically,” Lerner said.
He said parts of Alberta and Western Saskatchewan already reported temperatures in the frost range, but temperatures haven’t dropped low enough to harm crops.
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But mid-September there is a risk of colder weather for Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
He added that killing frosts are not expected for at least another week to 10 days.
As for Alberta, the province is expected to have milder weather longer into the fall and above-normal temperatures for the season as a whole, Environment Canada said in its fall forecast.
“The El Nino phenomenon will make it a drier bias in late-autumn and winter,” said Lerner.
But Lerner said that weather will most likely come after harvest is finished.
“I don’t want to leave any doubt that we’ll see at least a little precipitation periodically.”
