Canadian Prairies Weather Outlook

An active weather pattern during the last week has helped maintain or even improve soil moisture in some areas of the Canadian Prairies. But there were some areas left behind that saw little or none. The weather pattern during the last week of July offers something similar, which could be beneficial or damaging depending on the locations rain hits or misses.

As of July 24, precipitation during the past seven days was pretty widespread across much of the Canadian Prairies. Data from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimates large parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba received anywhere from 15 to 50 millimeters (about 0.6 to 2 inches) of rainfall with pockets that saw a little more due to thunderstorms.

However, areas that received less than 15 mm included northeast Alberta, and northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. These places are more limited in soil moisture and are in deeper drought than many of the areas to their south that got rain. That brought a lot of haves and have-nots to the region at a critical time for crop development as much of the crops are in their reproductive stages and need moisture for good pollination and early fill.

Temperatures were mild to limit stresses, but the soil moisture is becoming a problem for some of these drier areas. Crop reports from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba during the last week all point to varying degrees of crop conditions with some areas looking really good while others are suffering, largely from drought. The active weather has overall increased soil moisture and crop conditions in the region, but there are areas with significant problems.

Heading into the last week of July, there is now limited time left for rainfall to be helpful for crop development and it will soon become a hindrance to drydown and harvest.

The Prairies will get some opportunities. A system is entering the area on July 25 and is already producing some scattered showers in the northwest. Another will follow behind it for the weekend and some additional showers may be possible in the southwest early next week with systems moving through the Northern U.S. Plains. Another system is forecast to move into the Prairies late next week, but probably not before the calendar turns over to August, giving the region limited opportunity to accumulate beneficial rainfall.

All-in-all, showers with these systems look isolated to locally scattered, again bringing good rainfall to some areas while leaving others near or completely dry. Overall, rainfall amounts look to be less than 10 mm (0.4 inches) except near the Rockies in Alberta, where estimates near or over 25 mm (1 inch) are forecast. Those are for mostly wooded areas near the Rockies, though, and not necessarily the farmland areas across the central and south. Regardless, unless some areas get lucky, another week of little rainfall is being forecast for a lot of areas of the Prairies as the season starts to wind down.

To find more international weather conditions and your local forecast from DTN, head over to https://www.dtnpf.com/…

John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com

(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.