It was a warm and dry July for the province of Saskatchewan, with the southeast seeing one of the record-driest months of July ever recorded.
Meteorologist with Environment Canada, Andy Yun, said temperatures were pretty much above normal through the area in the southern grain belt. However, he said a lot of the really warm temperatures ended up being up north.
"Meadow Lake and La Ronge, and even up to Key Lake, it was their first or second warmest July ever on record, and that certainly explains why when the forest fires got burning up there, that it was pretty intense."
Here in the southeast, he noted, saw the driest ever recorded. “The Estevan area was the driest ever recorded.”
He said with only 1.7 mm of rain over the month, July was Estevan’s driest in 112 years. Normal precipitation is 67.5 mm for the area, which means July was only three percent of the normal rainfall. Moose Jaw saw its 8th driest July in 131 years, at 20 percent of normal, with 12.7 mm of precipitation over the month, while 63 mm is considered normal.
"Other regions, too, ended up being the top 20 in terms of drier years in over 130 years of records, so there was not a lot of precipitation through July, which was disappointing because I think through the late spring and early summer there was some showers they came through and that certainly was much needed."
Meadow Lake saw its warmest July in 76 years, with a monthly mean temperature of 19.5 degrees Celsius, which is 2.8 degrees warmer than normal. Similarly, La Ronge saw its warmest July in 60 years, an average of 20.5 degrees, which is three degrees above normal. Key Lake also saw its driest July in 48 years, at 24.7 mm for the month. Typical precipitation amounts to 88.3 mm, and they were only 28 percent of normal.
Yun said the warm air came into the province from the southern United States.
“It was actually a lot of warm air through Western Canada, too. For example, just further west across the border into Alberta, there were a lot of areas in Alberta that did set records for the warmest July ever recorded.”
The warmer air also impacted precipitation, leading to a lack of moisture.
“Some areas maybe were lucky to see some spotty showers or thundershowers through the area.”
Yun said we’re expecting to see more of the same for the next month.
“We’re looking at above-normal temperatures through the period and below-normal precipitation.”
Find the full weather details for Weyburn HERE.