It seems like a distant memory after a cold, wet beginning to May, but Manitobans and residents of eastern Saskatchewan enjoyed the warmest March and April ever this year, said David Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist.
Using data from the Brandon weather station as an example, Phillips said the average daily temperature this spring was 3.1 C.
In a typical year, the average over March and April is -1.5 C in Brandon.
“March, in Brandon, was about five degrees (C) warmer than normal and April has been four degrees warmer than normal,” Phillips said April 29.
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The 3.1 C average for the two months shattered the Brandon record of 2.5 C set in 1977.
“Every day in April was warmer than normal,” Philips said. “It’s also been that way in Saskatchewan, (but) not record breaking.”
For instance, the average daily temperature in Regina was 3.3 C for the March-April period.
“It would probably be, in Regina, the third warmest (March-April) in records that go back to 1883,” Phillips said.
Farmers across Manitoba took advantage of the weather, getting a jump on producers in western Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Stuart McMillan, a weather and crop analyst with the Canadian Wheat Board, told Pembina Valley Online that 20 percent of seeding was done in Manitoba by April 29, compared to 14 percent for the Prairies.
The warm, dry spell came to an end last weekend, when 20 to 50 milli-metres of rain fell across a large chunk of the eastern Prairies.
The moisture will interrupt seeding but it was also needed, said Andy Nadler, an agricultural meteorologist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“I think the rain has been a good thing and quite welcome,” said Nadler. “A lot of areas (in Manitoba), most went between 20 to 35 mm, which is not excessive.”
The precipitation is helpful, because most soils in the eastern Prairies were on the dry side, he said.
“There was concern with seeding into dry soil and germination and things like that. So for what’s in the ground, I think this rain is fantastic.”
Looking ahead, Phillips said Environment Canada will release its summer forecast June 1.
But it looks like June, July and August will be warmer than normal in Western Canada.
“The preliminary look is that I would describe the Prairies as being normal to warmer than normal, Manitoba being all warmer than normal and southern Saskatchewan and Alberta being … more near normal.
“The prospects for this growing season, I think, are good,” he said.
