Late-October rains caused harvest delays for many, but the three to five millimetres were near to below average. And in most areas south of Red Deer, conditions were quite dry over the first two months of fall.
Most areas in the province experienced at least near-normal accumulations of precipitation during September and October, although some areas south of Edmonton and the north-central Peace Region experienced one-in-six- to one-in-12-year rainfall. Overall, at least near-normal precipitation province-wide has led to a marked improvement in soil moisture reserves, with most areas south of Edmonton estimated to have near-normal or wetter soil moisture conditions.
In contrast, north of the Yellowhead Highway across the province, soil moisture reserves are generally still well below normal, estimated to range from one-in-six- to one-in-12-year lows, with some seeing one-in-25-year lows. However, this is a vast improvement from the conditions in late August, when large areas north of the Yellowhead were estimated to be near one-in-50-year lows.
