Water Supply Outlook for Alberta
April 2008
March 2008 Precipitation |
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Most of the province south of Slave Lake, recorded much below normal precipitation, with the exceptions of the
Cypress Hills south of Medicine Hat and Lloydminster, which recorded above normal precipitation.
North of Slave Lake, precipitation in Alberta was generally below normal to normal, except below to much below normal in
the Fort Chipewyan area, and above to much above normal in Peace River and the Fort McMurray and High Level areas
(Figure 1).
March precipitation totals are illustrated in Figure 2.
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Winter Precipitation (November 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008) |
| Southern plains areas of the province recorded much below precipitation, except for the Cypress Hills area south of Medicine Hat, which recorded above normal precipitation. Central plains areas recorded below to much below normal precipitation, except for Cold Lake and Lloydminster, which recorded above normal and normal precipitation, respectively. Northern plains areas recorded below normal to normal precipitation, except for the Fort Chipewyan area, which recorded much below normal precipitation. Mountain and foothill areas south of Banff recorded precipitation ranging from below normal to above normal precipitation while mountain and foothill areas from Banff to Jasper to Grande Cache recorded generally below to much below normal precipitation (Figure 3). Winter precipitation totals are illustrated in Figure 4. |
Fall Precipitation (September 1 to October 31, 2007) |
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Below to much below normal precipitation was recorded in most of the province
(Figure 5).
Above to much above normal precipitation was recorded in many mountain and foothill
locations of the Banff-Pincher Creek area, in the Milk River-Cypress Hills area, and in
the far north of the province that includes areas north of High Level and the
Fort Chipewyan area. Some areas of the Upper Smoky and Athabasca River basins
recorded normal to above normal precipitation. Fall precipitation totals are illustrated
in Figure 6.
A map of soil moisture in the province as estimated by Alberta Agriculture can be seen
here .
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Long-Lead Precipitation Outlook |
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Environment Canada's long-lead forecast for Alberta issued on April 1, 2008
for the April through June 2008 period is for below normal precipitation in most of
the southern half of the province and normal to above normal precipitation in the northern half.
Temperatures for this period are forecast to be below normal for southern Alberta and the mountains and foothills
and normal for the rest of the province.
Canada's long-lead precipitation outlook is available from their website located at:
http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/saisons/index_e.html.
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For technical enquires about this web page please contact Alberta Environment - Environmental Management Water Management Operations Branch at AENV-WebWS@gov.ab.ca
