A slow-moving weather system is making its way across central and southern Saskatchewan this week, bringing with it the potential for significant rainfall and thunderstorms, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Luke Crawford, a meteorologist with the federal agency, said the system is progressing slowly eastward, which could lead to prolonged periods of heavy rain in affected areas.
“We just have a kind of slow-moving system that’s meandering its way eastward across Saskatchewan,” said Crawford. “Because the system is moving slowly, the showers and thunderstorms will also be moving slowly. That’s just going to allow for these heavy downpours to last a bit longer than they normally would.”
Crawford noted that much of southern Saskatchewan can expect a soggy stretch through midday Wednesday before the skies begin to clear in the afternoon.
Looking ahead, there may be a brief reprieve from the wet weather before more moisture rolls in.
“Thursday should be a nice dry day,” Crawford said. “But as we get towards the weekend, that’s going to be our next chance for some showers and thunderstorms. It might actually shape up to be a bit of a wet week across many parts of the province.”
The wet weather comes on the heels of a weekend that brought localized severe conditions, including reports of hail in parts of the province.
“We had a lot of reports of pea-sized hail in the southwest over the weekend,” Crawford confirmed. “Going back to Friday, there was even some golf ball-sized hail near Neville.”
While rainfall may disrupt agricultural operations such as harvesting, Crawford offered a note of optimism for the days ahead.
“As we peek into next week—keeping in mind that the forecast could change—it does look like it will be on the drier side again,” he said. “So hopefully we have that to look forward to.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada continues to monitor the system and advises residents to stay up to date with local forecasts and alerts.