Environment Canada says Portage la Prairie and surrounding areas continue to experience below-average precipitation, with no widespread rainfall expected in the near future.
The pattern over the past few months has been one of narrow misses, with weather systems often moving either north or south of the region. A few thunderstorm days have provided brief relief, but conditions remain generally dry.
“We just keep missing these systems as they come through,” notes the Environment Canada spokesperson. “They keep either going south of Manitoba, or they keep tracking through the northern part of the province.”
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Sporadic rainfall not enough to ease dryness
Although some rain fell recently during localized thunderstorms, it hasn’t been enough to significantly shift soil moisture conditions.
“We’ve had a couple of thunderstorm days, kind of like you alluded to, with some rain,” says the meteorologist. “But it looks like going forward, it might be kind of more of that same idea, unfortunately.”
Forecasts show more of these scattered events in the coming days, but they remain unpredictable in terms of location and total rainfall.
“Someone gets a good downpour, and then you go down the road, and that person might not have had a single raindrop,” adds the spokesperson.
No major weather systems in sight
For the next couple of weeks, forecasters anticipate more thunderstorm activity, but not the type of system that would deliver widespread relief.
“There’s no real organized, big low-pressure system or anything like that that’s coming through that I can see,” continues the meteorologist.
Still better than early spring conditions
While the region remains dry, the meteorologist says it’s not as severe as earlier in the season.
“I don’t think it’s looking as bad as it was in, say, like April or May,” notes the spokesperson. “Because there were times earlier this spring where it was just dry, dry, dry, right?”
There is some optimism that larger thunderstorms could help, even if rainfall continues to be inconsistent.
“It does look like there’s going to be a number of thunderstorm days on the horizon,” says the meteorologist. “It’s just tricky with thunderstorms because one guy is going to get a ton of rain and then the next guy is going to get very little.”
Outlook remains cautious
The conversation closed with hope for better conditions but no promises.
“I guess that’s all I got. Fingers crossed for the farmers,” he adds.
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