Although there was a fire ban in place for provincial parks since the middle of July, the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Parks, Culture, and Sport have expanded it to all provincial crown land, provincial parks and recreation sites in southwest Saskatchewan.

We've had spotty showers throughout the province over the last week or so, but we need quite a bit more according to the ministry.

"Any bit of rain right now is welcome, but it was not enough to change the fire ban," said Tiffany Stephenson, Executive Director of Visitor Experiences. "It's very dry out in the southwest corner and we need much more to take the fire ban off."

Even if we head into the weekend with showers Stephenson doesn't believe it will be substantial enough to make an impact.

"It's too hard to say at this time when the ban will be lifted and that will be up to the Ministry of Environment who will make that call... even with the fire ban in effect it's not a reason not to come to a park. You can still come and enjoy it, in fact, the hot weather is a great reason to come to the park and go to lakes."

Stephenson hopes that the ban won't force campers to change their plans for the long weekend as there are still options available.

"The fire restriction is put in place for public safety and it's for the benefit of all of us that the ban is in place. You can still enjoy a park experience without a fire, you can have a briquette fire, propane fire or a propane barbecue still."

According to the forecast, mother nature looks to be sending showers our way to start and end the long weekend.