A Sunday afternoon hailstorm south of Yorkton, Sask., dotted Janice Fritzke’s canola fields and blanketed roadsides and bushes with pea-sized white balls.
“We were so surprised to see hail like that when we haven’t had the heat,” she said.
Fritzke was unsure of the damage to the canola, which was at the two leaf stage. Some crop had not yet emerged due to a cooler than normal spring that slowed development.
The storm blew in after lunch, bringing rain, hail and strong, changeable winds, said Fritzke.
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“Even the bush was full of so much pea-sized hail that it looked like snow,” she said.
David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said it has not been humid enough to generate much hail but there have been bouts reported.
He called Saskatchewan and Alberta a hotbed for “that big white combine.”
Other severe weather seen last week on the Prairies included intense rain around Winnipeg, hail at Gladstone, Man., and a tornado-like cold air funnel system at Weyburn, Sask.
In central Alberta, strong winds damaged corrals in Heisler, lightning struck a church in Camrose and large hail damaged farm vehicles at Rosalind.
Phillips said June is typically the wettest month but Saskatchewan has largely missed most of the rainstorms.
“Saskatchewan has been denied the moisture,” he said.
Saskatoon has received eight millimetres and normally gets 19 mm. Regina averages 23 mm in June and has only received seven mm.
Winnipeg generally sees 90 mm in June and had already received 40 mm by contrast, including 38.5 mm of rain June 6.
The rain was welcome news for growers who have struggled with cool weather and little precipitation this spring.
“It’s a million dollar rain for Manitoba. Saskatchewan is still looking for the million dollar rain,” Phillips said.
Farmers are now waiting for it to warm up, Phillips added, citing temperatures three degrees cooler than normal in Winnipeg and Regina districts and two degrees cooler in Alberta.
Slow crop development in spring is cause for concern for farmers if early fall frosts arrive before the crop is ripe, he said.
On a positive note, Environment Canada’s seasonal forecast is calling for a warm summer across the Prairies, which should bring good growing conditions.
Timing of the rain is as important as warmth.
“Timing is everything with precipitation,” he said, recalling years when significant rainfall came in August when farmers instead needed warm, dry weather to mature crops.
Alberta is reporting good crop conditions, said Ralph Wright, soil moisture specialist with Alberta Agriculture.
“The entire province is pretty close to normal or better,” he said. “There’s been a lot of rain in the province.”
Recent rains have improved dry zones in the southwest and Peace, with the northern Peace receiving as much as 20 mm in recent days.
Wright said such moisture may bring new problems, noting the high to extremely high soil moisture reserves between Red Deer and Calgary.
He said 50 mm have fallen there since the end of May.
“It may be getting too wet,” he said. “We need a little bit of heat.”
Moisture is also bordering on excessive in parts of Manitoba’s Interlake, said Rob Park of Manitoba Agriculture, who said the 30 to 80 mm of rain is creating ponds in the Interlake around Riverton and Fisher Branch.
The rain is timely for those farms south of the Trans-Canada Highway that had to reseed canola damaged in May by frost.
“Canola will love the rain,” he said.
