Sask. braces for spring storms, with rain, thunder and possible snow ahead

Some spring showers – and possibly snow – could hit the province this week.

Erik Dykes, senior meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the forecast is calling for steady rain and pockets of heavy showers across all of Saskatchewan from Tuesday through Friday.

It is quite a broad area of low pressure that is coming in from the B.C. coast and interior British Columbia this morning, and it’s just going to sit in and park itself over the prairies for the majority of the week, so no one will escape the wrath of the rain,” Dykes said.

While it is hard to pinpoint exactly how much rain will fall in Regina in Saskatoon, Dykes said some areas in the southern end of the province could see two to three inches – 50 to 75 millimeters – of rain.

“It looks like areas west of Saskatoon – Kindersley, Leader, Swift Current, and so forth – might be in those areas where we might see the heavier rainfall,” he said.

“Less rain for Saskatoon and Regina, but still quite a bit of rainfall coming to those two cities.”

Dykes says it’s possible thunderstorms will accompany the rain.

According to Dykes, the heavy hit of rain could bring the long-awaited drought relief many farmers have been looking for.

“In speaking with (the farming community), we know that the rain is like gold coming out of the sky right now, in the sense that it has been so dry and rainy, so desperately needed,” added Dykes.

“So from what I can gather from speaking to the public over the last few months, and also by just looking at a lot of the drought charts that we’ve seen across the prairies, this rain will be welcomed for many of them in the agricultural community.”

But while the rain might be welcomed, Dykes said some people in Saskatchewan might be waking up to something a little different on Thursday morning.

“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a chance as well that it may not just be rain that’s falling; there could be snow.”

Dykes said some models are indicating that as the low-pressure system starts to pull into Manitoba on Wednesday evening, a lot of cold air may wrap around into Saskatchewan.

“Some of the international models that we look at as well are indicating that we could see portions of the Northern Grain Belt, maybe even Saskatoon and again areas along the Alberta border, might be waking up to some snow on Thursday morning.”

However, Dykes said the snow is not expected to stick around for long.

“Especially if the precursor to that snow has been raining, the ground will be rather wet, so any snow that does fall will not probably accumulate too much,” he explained.