Weekend rainfall warning issued for parts of central and southwestern Saskatchewan

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 7:34 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued rainfall warnings for dozens of Saskatchewan communities adjacent the Alberta border, with 40 to 80 millimetres expected implicit the weekend.

The rainfall warnings widen eastward, covering Kenaston, Davidson and surrounding areas on Highway 11 betwixt Saskatoon and Regina.  

ECCC says heavy rainfall could autumn successful a abbreviated magnitude of clip connected Saturday earlier tapering disconnected successful the evening.

"Where that dense rainfall informing is successful the Kindersley-Leader area," Rose Carlsen, an ECCC meteorologist, said. "We're reasoning that by Sunday greeting they could spot up to 80 millimetres successful immoderate areas. There mightiness beryllium immoderate embedded thunderstorms wrong that larger country of rain."

ECCC warns dense downpours tin origin flash floods and h2o pooling connected roads, arsenic good arsenic localized flooding successful low-lying areas is possible. People tin cheque the latest alerts here.

Fast-moving water

Saskatchewan's Water Security Agency (WSA) sent retired a nationalist advisory connected Friday day that the South Saskatchewan River betwixt Lake Diefenbaker and the Alberta borderline is astatine hazard of flooding owed to precocious rainfall.

Sean Osmar, a spokesperson for the WSA, said Lake Diefenbaker has capable capableness to instrumentality connected this water, but the level of the water is expected to summation 1 metre successful the adjacent 10 days. 

The WSA says it expects the accrued runoff into the South Saskatchewan River volition marque the stream travel astir 15 per cent faster betwixt Lake Diefenbaker and Saskatoon.

"Take sensible precautions," Osmar said. "Be alert that the flows and the levels tin alteration rapidly, particularly with this rainfall tempest coming. Always cheque section conditions earlier you spell out. And if you person a dock connected the lake, you mightiness privation to see pulling it retired until those levels chopped successful and adjust."

In mentation for accrued flows on the river, officials successful Alberta began expanding reservoir releases.