Prairies will be doused with abundant rainfall, helping with fire risk

Rain, rain and more rain. That will be the weather story for the Prairies this week as a moisture-laden, expansive system continues to trek across the region.

The rain is certainly welcome still in the region after a soggy May, continuing to quell the wildfire threat and some of the dry conditions still ongoing in parts of the region. Some areas could see up to 60 mm of rainfall through mid-week.

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The unsettled weather is occurring amid Monday's probable landspout tornado near the community of https://twitter.com/HouckisPokisewx/status/1797737428138242393, south of Camrose, with some unverified reports of damage. That prompted Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to issue tornado watches for parts of the province.

Tuesday should be a less active day, with no talk of funnel cloud potential as of now, but there will still be a thunderstorm threat for parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Tuesday through Wednesday: Steady rain continues as the low crawls eastwards

As the low tracks farther east Tuesday, at which point it will slow down and crawl eastward, the risk for thunderstorms continues across Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The bigger story will be the heavy rainfall on the central Prairies. The slow movement of the low, combined with a steady flow of Gulf moisture from the south, will fuel steady rainfall for the central Prairies.

40-60 mm of rain is possible in central and northern Saskatchewan, while 10-30 mm is anticipated in areas along the Yellowhead Highway and locales south of it.

Highly unusual rainfall is likely for Churchill, Man.

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By late Tuesday into Wednesday, winds become a concern across the southern Prairies, with potential gusts up to 80 km/h from the northwest.

Most of the Prairies have seen wetter-than-normal conditions over the past month.

This impending rainfall will serve to pad the totals, bringing good news for wildfire prevention and the agricultural growing season.

A drier and somewhat warmer pattern is expected this weekend and most of next week, but a low-pressure system and some more wet weather is possible early next week for the southern Prairies.

Check back for all the latest on your forecast across the Prairies.

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