Snow has been an infrequent visitor to Medicine Hat, Alta., this winter, while white mounds line the streets of Prince Albert, Sask., like spectators at a parade.
Northern areas of the prairie grain belt are seeing more snow than the south, largely due to the early arrival of the white stuff and major snowstorms.
Meteorologist Bob Cormier of Environment Canada said precipitation levels are about 150 percent of normal in areas extending from Peace River, Alta., through Lloydminster and into western Manitoba and the Interlake.
Other communities, such as Prince Albert, North Battleford, Sask., and Saskatoon, have doubled their normal snowfall amount.
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Farther south, however, normal to below normal precipitation levels have prevailed. Snow levels in the plains area south of the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta are below normal, with dry areas also seen around Red Deer and in southwestern Saskatchewan.
Cormier said early winter storms and a January blizzard brought much of the snowfall to the higher precipitation areas.
“In previous years, they received very little in November,” he said.
One of Saskatchewan’s worst blizzards in 50 years dumped up to 30 centimetres of snow in the Prince Albert-Saskatoon area in January, up to 20 cm at Meadow Lake, Sask., Saskatchewan’s Prince Albert National Park, The Pas, Man., Lloydminster, Edmonton and Jasper, Alta., and more at Peace River and Cold Lake, Alta.
Cormier said the blizzard, which compares to one in 1955 that lasted 26 hours, is distinguished by where it hit.
“It’s where it occurred that makes it a bit of an oddball,” he said, noting that northern areas are usually less likely to experience as many blizzards as the south.
Manitoba saw minimal snow but faced the same frigid temperatures that followed the blizzard in most zones.
The province’s major snowfall came in a late December storm that dumped up to 30 cm on the Red River Valley.
Environment Canada forecasts for the remainder of winter are predicting above normal temperatures and near normal precipitation over agricultural areas due to the effects of El Nino in the tropical Pacific. Southern Manitoba could see more precipitation than other areas.
Saskatchewan will likely see more runoff from the melting mountain snowcap this spring and summer, said Dalvin Euteneier, manager of the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority’s river forecast centre.
Snow in higher elevations of Alberta and British Columbia is reported at normal to above normal levels in most areas.
Euteneier said full reservoirs in Alberta from last fall’s storm in British Columbia and Alberta means more water will be passed through to Saskatchewan.
Rainfall in May and June will also play a role in water flows.
“That can have a huge impact on what comes into the province,” he said.
