Earlier this week the official beginning to summer commenced leaving behind a fairly average springtime for precipitation in the Swift Current region for producers.

On average, the Swift Current Research Station has recorded 73 millimetres of snow/rain/hail during the spring (March 20 to June 21) since 1886 and the three months this past year came in at 60.6 millimetres.

While the numbers don't seem very noteworthy, that's the highest amount of precipitation Swift Current has received in the spring since 2016 (162.1 millimetres) and at least nine millimetres above any total from 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

"With (the) psychology of weather, it's interesting people's perceptions," Jason Nimegeers, an agrometeorology technician with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre, said. "You go in a two-year clump, or three-year, or five-year, everybody's a bit different depending on what industry they're in whether they want cool or hot."

The downside for farmers to those numbers according to Nimegeers, is the above-average evaporation rate making it not an ideal growing environment.

"The wind and lots of sunshine, that kind of makes it a little more of a harsher growing environment for our crops," he said. "It's almost reminiscent of about 1987 and 1988 where it was quite warm and lots of wind."

Since the research station began tracking the evaporation rate (which factors in sun, wind, temperature, and humidity) about 60 years ago, June so far has had the third-highest rate trailing just 1987 and 1988.

"One of our sensors is a two-metre anemometer and that too quite of stands out for that same period from June 1 to June 21, that's the fourth most wind we've had at that sensor," he said. "When compared to 45 years of measurement."

There were 27-days of precipitation recorded during the spring at the research station compared to an average of 28-days.

Graph courtesy of Jason Nimegeers