Mother Nature not done with central Alberta after rough July

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In July, Red Deer Airport saw 53.8 mm of precipitation, well below the average of 82.1 mm over the last century.

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The mean temperature was 16.7 degrees Celsius, higher than the normal of 15.9.

Proctor adds with the worst likely still yet to come for the BC wildfires, the Red Deer area can expect to see more intermittent smoke drifting eastward.

When it comes to tornadoes, Proctor explains Alberta typically sees 10 to 15 twisters across the province annually.

“Trying to determine whether that number’s been increasing or decreasing or we’re just getting better reporting of tornadoes is a very interesting question,” he says. “There are more storm spotters out there, more people have their cellphones and more people know what to look for, so we’re getting increased reports.”

Proctor also says residents should be aware they live in a highly convective area, one which sees some of the most intense hail and lightning in the entire country.

The July 25 Alberta Crop Report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry noted crop conditions declined in the later part of the month to 60 per cent (good/excellent), down from the five year average of 74 per cent.

Ministry Crop Specialist Harry Brook says crop conditions continue to decline due to the heat.

“It won’t be maybe as severe [as last week], just because the temperatures have been more moderate the last few days, but we haven’t had much in the way of rain,” he notes. “It’s getting to the point though in crop staging, any rain later than next week or the week after, is going to have very little effect on yield.”

Brook explains some crops are just feeding off moisture stored in the soil from last season. Crops that are particularly susceptible at this point are canola and barley, he says.

According to the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, the number of crop-related hail claims in Alberta this year stands at about 3800 (as of August 1), a 30 per cent drop from the same span of 2016. Most of those claims are from the central Alberta, Camrose, Wetaskiwin and Sedgewick areas.