It is becoming a somewhat common theme for southeast Saskatchewan – rain on the weekend, and sometimes, quite a bit of it.  

Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a rainfall warning Saturday afternoon for Weyburn, Estevan and the surrounding communities, with upwards of 50 millimetres expected to fall by Sunday evening.  

The rain started Saturday evening and has been going since, although not as heavy as has been seen in recent weeks. This rain, however, comes after two consecutive days of rainfall in the region, with Weyburn seeing over 10mm in the previous days, and Estevan over 11mm. 

By 7:00 a.m. Sunday morning, Estevan had already seen more than 28mm since 10:00 p.m. Saturday, and Weyburn 8.7mm. 

The rainfall has put a damper on those who were hoping to get out into the field for spring seeding, with the southeast part of the province well behind the five-year average at this point thanks to all of the precipitation in recent weeks.  

May has also been notable for another mark when it comes to precipitation, with over 100mm falling in the southeast, making this the wettest month of the past 12. As well, the 30-year average for rainfall for the month of May is around 50mm.  

The southeast corner isn’t the only part of the province that has been receiving rain, however.  

Humboldt and area received over 13mm Saturday night, and the forecast called for upwards of 15 more millimetres to fall in the region by Monday morning. 

The western half of the province, though, has not received anywhere near as much rain as the southeast.  

The Swift Current area has seen 38 millimetres of rain, with the 30-year average standing at over 50mm. Some of the communities in the southwest have received even less. In the west-central part of Saskatchewan – Kindersley, Rosetown and surrounding communities – just 11mm have fallen this month, with most of that coming on May 19th.  

The forecast for the coming week does show sunshine dominating through until next weekend, which will give producers in the waterlogged parts of the southeast the chance to have things dry up, so they are able to back into the field to wrap up seeding for the 2022 crop.