Unusually, there are no fire restrictions coming with April for Cypress County

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

Southern Alberta 

Newspapers

Seasonal fire restrictions, typically enacted April 1 in Cypress County, will be delayed as cooler weather has kept snow and ice on fields in southeast Alberta.

The county announced earlier this month that burn permits will be issued until further notice.

Across the region, fire restrictions announced last October remain in place in the County of Forty Mile and Town of Taber.

There are no restrictions in southwest Saskatchewan.

In terms of snow melt, Alberta Environment predicts plains runoff will be less than half of normal years in areas south of Brooks and east of the foothills in its March report. The exception is the Cypress Hills where accumulated snow pack ranks in the top-10 of recorded years dating back to the early 1980s. Runoff there could be double a typical year.

The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency also predicts heavy runoff from the Cypress Hills, but flowing south to the Missouri River system, leaving areas north, like Maple Creek, very dry.