Saskatchewan residents are being urged to brace for high floods this spring.
Water officials in the province predict high potential for floods and urge residents to prepare.
However, they say the potential is less than it was in the record flood of 2011, when late spring rain overwhelmed saturated soil and devastated parts of southeastern Saskatchewan.
“We don’t want to alarm anybody at this time but we want everyone to take the precautions necessary,” said Ken Cheveldayoff, minister responsible for the Water Security Agency.
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The agency’s forecast released March 11 suggests above average runoff conditions across the agricultural area.
Pockets with well above normal runoff potential are near the two largest cities.
“In the Moose Jaw to Indian Head area, the Qu’Appelle Valley, and the area south of Prince Albert in between North Battleford and Saskatoon there is the potential for very high runoff,” the minister said.
These areas saw more than twice as much snow as normal, and a larger area including Melville, Weyburn, North Battleford and Gravelbourg saw up to twice as much.
The snow also contains between 150 and 200 percent more than the normal amount of water, Cheveldayoff said.
Gina Ressler, meteorologist with The Weather Network, said the three-month outlook for the Prairies indicates precipitation for most regions should be near normal.
Several small areas will see above normal precipitation, however.
“We’ve got this area through western Saskatchewan and up into northern Saskatchewan where we’re expecting above normal precipitation for the next couple of months and that has to do with the storm track that we’re expecting to continue into the spring,” she said.
