Warm air keeps spilling in under the building ridge, and any morning fog patches should clear out through the day. Expect a mix of sun and cloud giving way to sunny skies by afternoon. Frost risk drops sharply from where it’s been, but it isn’t gone. Areas tight against the foothills should still watch overnight lows into Monday night. Highs run in the low 20s, a solid 3 to 5 degrees above normal for this point in September.

Alberta

Sunny and mild across the south and central regions. A little patchy fog may be possible early in the north, but it should burn off. Highs climb into the mid-20s, even the high 20s in the southeast near Brooks and Medicine Hat. It’s some of the warmest air you’ll see all week. Wind stays light. This helps harvest teams catch up before the window tightens at week’s end.

Saskatchewan

Sunny skies and mild temperatures open the week, with regional highs generally in the low 20s. Morning dew should burn off early. Therefore, the drier air moving in behind last week’s system will clear it. Fieldwork can start earlier in the day.

Manitoba

Dry and mild, with highs reaching the upper teens, perhaps the low 20s in the Dauphin area. This is a clean start to the week after the light frost. There is no crop damage of note to report from it, despite heavy rain elsewhere. Some parts of southwestern Manitoba have received 120 percent of rainfall, and fields are waterlogged with combines unable to work.

Tuesday

Peace Region

Tuesday’s a cooler day, though sunshine will still dominate.  Temperatures will peak in the mid-teens, and a passing shower may occur.  The greatest chance of showers will be in the early morning. If they pass through, they will be brief, and there won’t be any significant accumulation; the rest of the day will be dry. This is one of your best two days of the week for combining and for getting pre-harvest applications on later fields, though you’ll want to let dew burn off and morning showers pass before rolling equipment.

Alberta

Dry and sunny weather continues for most areas, though showers will pass through the northern forests from the southwest to the northeast. Accumulations will be minor, generally under 5 mm, with regional highs easing back to around 20 as the air mass dries out. In southern Alberta, highs will climb to the mid to high 20s. Overnight lows drop to 6 or 7 degrees – a noticeably crisper autumn feel. That combination of cooler, drier nights speeds up morning warm-up, so fields should be fit to enter earlier in the day than they have been.

Saskatchewan

Another sunny, dry day with a south wind and highs in the low to upper 20s. Overnight lows could remain in the double digits, so widespread frost remains off the table. You may even be able to keep the furnace turned off Tuesday night! Wind stays manageable, favourable for swathing if you’re not already straight-cutting.

Manitoba

Dry with highs in the upper teens and overnight lows remaining in double digits.  It will be a warm night, which is helpful. Ground that took on heavy rain over the past couple of weeks gets another day to firm up, and may create some opportunities for at least some farmers who are still waiting for drier conditions to resume the harvest.

Wednesday

Peace Region

Still sunny, dry and mild, for the most part. A large, strengthening low in the Gulf of Alaska will shoot some showers toward the general direction of the Peace Region, and that could provide a few brief interruptions to the harvest. Accumulations won’t be significant, so the showers will be a nuisance more than anything else. Temperatures will peak in the mid-teens. A second day in a row with at least some opportunity for spraying, and maybe a chance this week to make real progress on the canola still sitting in swath.

Alberta

Dry and sunny holds across southern Alberta, with regional highs staying near 20. Temperatures near Medicine Hat will likely reach the mid 20s. The drier air continues paying off with faster morning field entry and less dew delay than you’ve dealt with in recent weeks. In Central Alberta, some passing showers will again intrude on harvest operations. The map below shows where the showers are expected Tuesday:

Saskatchewan

Sunny to mostly sunny, highs holding near the low to mid 20s across Saskatchewan. No precipitation anywhere in the province, and soil that was saturated after last week’s heavy rain events should be showing real improvement by now.

Manitoba

Expect a rainy day in southern Manitoba, as a disturbance pulls in moisture from North Dakota. The streak of dry weather comes to an end for southern Manitoba, which hasn’t had a great chance to dry out after all the earlier rain. By midnight, 5-10 mm of rain will have fallen across most of southern Manitoba, with the highest accumulations near Winnipeg and in the Red River Valley. Temperatures will remain steady in the mid teens during the day and overnight. Frost is not a risk.

Thursday

Peace Region

Quiet and dry weather returns following some pre-dawn showers. The upper flow starts nosing closer to the region today, but nothing arrives just yet, so treat this as another workable day before conditions start to turn Friday. Highs will be in the mid teens.

Alberta

Dry and sunny continues province-wide, with highs still hovering near 20 in southern regions. North of Calgary, highs will remain in the high teens. With no significant weather expected Thursday, wind and moisture stay favourable for anyone catching up on spraying or swathing.

Saskatchewan

Another clear, dry day. South of the Yellowhead Highway, expect highs in the low-to-mid 20s. To the north, temperatures will stay in the teens. With four dry days behind you by this point, most fields will hopefully be firm enough to support equipment without the rutting problems from earlier in the month.

Manitoba

Morning showers east of the Red River Valley will continue to move toward Ontario during the day. The sky clears out behind the showers, and dry conditions hold. Highs will reach the high teens to low 20s, with the western side of the province being warmer than the eastern side. This is likely your last sunny day before attention starts shifting to what’s coming out of the west later in the week, even though Manitoba itself isn’t expected to see any of it.

Friday

Peace Region

This is where it changes. A system pushing into Alberta will create significant precipitation south of the Peace region. Most of the Peace itself will be spared the moisture, which is helpful. But it will be on the cool side, with afternoon temperatures in the 12 to 14 degree range. The main action will be elsewhere in Alberta (read below).

Alberta

The southern part of the province will likely stay dry, but if you’re farming north of the Trans Canada Highway, watch the sky. It will be a rainy day in central and north central Alberta, as shown on the map below. It’s indicating some heavy rainfall totals for Friday:

Manitoba

Manitoba will have a sunny, dry day as well, with no rain in the forecast and nothing on the horizon from the system affecting Alberta and Saskatchewan. From the northern tips of the lakes and all the way south to the U.S. border, expect highs in the low 20s.

Saturday and Sunday

Peace Region

A sunny weekend is expected for the Peace Region, with no significant weather. It will stay dry, with temperatures reaching the mid-teens across the Peace both Saturday and Sunday.

Alberta

Saturday morning begins with rain across southern Alberta, clearing out rapidly by the afternoon.    Snow is even likely in the foothills, especially north of Highway 11. There is a possibility some of that snow will fall on higher elevation agricultural land west of Edmonton and Red Deer. In fact, all along the foothills, there will be a frost risk Saturday morning. This next map shows snowfall totals expected in Alberta over the weekend:

Manitoba

Manitoba’s forecast is similar to Saskatchewan’s: wet on Saturday, dry on Sunday, with southern highs in the low double digits. While the outlooks for the two provinces are similar, Manitoba will get significantly less rainfall than Saskatchewan.

EVENT FORECASTS