While it won’t come as much of a surprise to those who lived it, but just for the record officially 2017 will be known as the driest year on record in Assiniboia and Moose Jaw. The intense drought in southern Saskatchewan over the summer and into the fall actually accumulated less than half the precipitation normally seen in a 12-month period of time.
With well under 50 per cent of the usual yearly rain and snow for Assiniboia, only 181.6 millimetres of precipitation fell in 2017. Nearby Moose Jaw did not fair much better with a reported 214.8 millimetres of precipitation. Comparably, the city would see averages of 365.3 millimetres in 12 months.
Other Saskatchewan cities also felt the heat with Regina reporting its second-driest year ever and driest July in 130 years with only 154.2 millimetres of precipitation compared an average of 389.7 millimetres.
It was reported that the cause for the the lack of rain was a recurrent blocking pattern in the atmosphere during the summer of 2017 which deflected storm systems more to the northern part of the province. As we enter into 2018, forecasters are indicating a normal or slightly colder January, February and March with near-normal levels of snowfall.
According to the Canadian Drought Monitor as of the end of last year, reports indicated extreme drought conditions remain present in a pocket located in the southcentral region covering Assiniboia, Regina, and Weyburn.
