UNITY — Residents in Unity/Wilkie area have been wondering where our snow went as they expected, from the significant snowfall we had this winter, that there would or could be water laying in fields or running in the ditches. This has not been the case. Community coffee rows and even conversations struck up in local businesses offered their theories.
The curiosity factor was amplified when people saw areas like Swift Current in a state of emergency due to flooding when the notion was that southern Saskatchewan may be the drier part of the province.
We reached out to meteorologist Peter Quinlan from Global News, and he responded, “We did have snow on the ground very early in the season and the cold came on very quickly, which often prevents the usual fall freeze-thaw cycle from happening very often (basically since the second day of November it was below zero for most of the month).
“In years that we do get lots of freezing and thawing in the fall it allows water to get into the soil, saturate it and then it freezes the soil with water in it for the winter. Then when the snow melts in spring, the soil first stays frozen a little longer and the water sits on top and then once it melts it just adds to the water sitting around as the soil is more saturated and can’t soak in as much water.”
Unity Fire Chief, Dwaine Kopp, in an earlier story, reminded residents saying in that story, “It is always surprising how dry the dead grass from last year can be, so don’t just assume because we had lots of snow, that it isn’t a hazard to burn carelessly.”
April 17, Martensville and surrounding fire departments were working on fighting a fast-moving grass fire that was affecting visibility on roads in that area.
