(Resource News International) — Wet conditions throughout the entire growing season have pushed crops back in their maturity across the Prairies, and now more rainy days have farmers unable to get on the field to harvest, greatly increasing the chance of frost damage.
Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. near Kansas City said there have already been patches of frost in parts of Alberta, and more could be on the way.
“Through the Friday (Sept. 3) morning period, we could see some frost in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba,” Lerner said. “It’s all going to come down to clearing skies.”
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While there is a frost risk, Lerner said temperatures would only be around 0 C, meaning any damage to crops would be very minimal.
Once the Labour Day long weekend has passed, the frost threat will remain, if not increase. Lerner said there is a big risk during the first full week of September.
“There is a system expected to come across the Prairies early next week, and it’s behind that system that there could be some freezing activity,” he said. “It’s feasible if we get a fairly good storm system that passes through the Prairies, and then Tuesday or Wednesday it would probably be cool again.”
If it freezes during that time frame, Lerner said, the temperatures would be more damaging than what could be experienced throughout the Labour Day weekend.
Sandy Massey, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada in Winnipeg, said there is a risk of frost, but she said the lowest forecast temperatures for the Prairies within the next week are in the plus 3°C range.
“There is a chance (of frost), but aside from a couple of days, the overnight lows are always higher,” Massey said.
The risk of frost is on the minds of producers, but perhaps even more so is the precipitation that continues to fall.
Lerner said there is more rain on the way for the Canadian Prairies over the next week.
“For the eastern Prairies, it’s going to be an awful, awful mess,” he said. “We should have a few dry days coming Friday, Saturday and maybe Sunday, but I don’t think there will be a lot of aggressive field work if there is any at all on those days.”
The next storm system is due to come into the region late Sunday and into Monday, he said, and it is expected to bring with it substantial rainfall amounts. All parts of the Prairies would be affected by the system, he said, with the eastern regions hardest hit.
“My feeling at this point is that the eastern Prairies are going to have a difficult time getting enough dry weather for crop maturation, let alone harvesting.”
