Regina sees wet, rainy 18-hour period

In what will be welcome news for farmers gazing over parched fields, Mother Nature made a big splash.

Over the past 18 hours since Wednesday afternoon, Environment Canada meteorologist Justin Shaer said one of their Regina climate stations recorded 19 millimetres of rain, and as much as 26 mm were reported in the rural municipality of Bratt’s Lake, south of the city and covering the area around Wilcox.

“Some areas over Saskatchewan did get more. There was a line of thunderstorms that rolled through the (Assiniboia) region late in the night. We got reports of 30 to 48 millimetres,” Shaer said.

One inch is about 25.4 millimetres.

He said there’s more moisture on the way, with showers moving north into the city and persisting for a few days.

“We’re expecting another 10 to 20 millimetres from Fort Qu’Appelle, Regina, down into the Estevan-Carlyle area,” he said. “It’s looking like a cold and rainy weekend.”

In the northern part of the province, Shaer said Saskatoon only saw about 4 mm of rain, although another 10 mm could fall on Thursday.

He said they had reports of 25 mm in Outlook and between 11-17 mm in North Battleford.

Favourable reaction from producer

There were no complaints about the weather from one farmer.

Jesse Ridgway grows grain about three miles north of Lang and told the Greg Morgan Morning Show that she saw a little more than an inch of rain.

“The rain could’ve come maybe two or three weeks ago and it would have been a little better but we’re not going to complain now,” Ridgway said.

According to the latest Crop Report the recent rainfall has benefited topsoil moisture conditions.

Across the province, 37 per cent of cropland topsoil is rated at “adequate,” but 40 per cent is still at “short” and 21 per cent at “very short.”

For hay land and pasture, 28 per cent of topsoil across the province is rated as “adequate” while 42 per cent is “short” and 29 per cent is rated “very short.”