Snowy winter provides blast of hope in some parts of drought-stricken Prairies

It just keeps coming. More snow.

For many parts of the Canadian Prairies, it's more of the white stuff than they've seen in years.

At Stan Jeeves's cattle and grain farm near Wolseley, Sask., 100 kilometres east of Regina, strong winds have blown the snow into huge piles that engulf his hay bales. He's already had more than 60 centimetres of snow this winter, compared with just three centimetres at this point last winter, according to Environment Canada data.

"I think it's given me some optimism, for sure," Jeeves said. "We're receiving fairly regular snows, and so if that continues through the growing season into timely rains, we should be much better off than we have been in the past two or three years."

And while the snowfall he's seen this year is close to the historical average, the 70-year-old farmer has almost forgotten what normal looks like.

Prairie farmers have faced dry conditions for years, with last year breaking records for lack of rain and unrelenting heat.

The latest drought monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada projects that a large area of the Prairies could be delisted as a drought zone by the end of February.

All parts of the Prairies, except southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, have received near-normal to above-normal precipitation this winter season, according to the report. In particular, a wide swath that stretches from north of Edmonton to Winnipeg has received high precipitation, slightly easing drought conditions.

The following two maps illustrate the current drought conditions in Canada and what's forecast to change.

The first map, with drought conditions as of Jan. 31, shows 61 per cent of the Prairie region still ranges from abnormally dry to exceptional drought. However, it also reveals some improvements. In Manitoba, for example, the areas once considered to be in an extreme or exceptional drought have "significantly reduced due to very high precipitation in the last six months as well as improved long-term conditions."

The second map, illustrating the drought outlook for the end of February, shows several areas marked in green for "drought removal" and yellow for "drought improves." The report suggests that most of Manitoba, eastern Saskatchewan and a northern strip of Saskatchewan and Alberta could be removed from the drought zone.

"It's not as if this is money in the bank, but this is a sign that it's not going to be another bad year," Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips said. "The feeling is that maybe Mother Nature has not forgotten how to rain or snow on the Prairies."

Unfortunately, much of southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan have been short-changed so far.

But Phillips said there's still hope.