2+ inches of rain set to fall on the southeast

A pause on seeding activities in the southeast appears imminent, with heavy rains expected from Thursday night into Friday.

Environment Canada is predicting 30 to 40 millimetres of rain in the Estevan area Thursday night, with another 20 to 30 on Friday. Saturday is also expected to be rainy. And storms could cause isolated showers during the day Thursday.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Natalie Hasell says that we will see a bit, but not too much rumbling like we did earlier this week.

"You would have a risk of a thunderstorm today, so you'd actually be able to see them as separate cells, but as we get into the bulk of this low-pressure system stuff coming towards you, now you could see thunderstorms embedded. If you were looking at satellite and radar, you'd probably be able to discern them, but if you're just living under it, it'll just look like rain and then heavier rain at times"

With all that rain, there is a chance that conditions are ripe for damage to property through falling trees and rising water.

"Depending on how much rain you've had in the last little while if your ground is very saturated, it won't take a lot of wind to push over a tree because the roots aren't really holding on to anything, right? So that could be of concern. The strength of the winds that we're looking at typically right now should not cause any other type of damage though. 

"Rain at times heavy, I suppose, could lead to flash floods. So maybe some folks' basements or sewer systems or something like that could be affected. So good time to check that the sump pump is working and the backwater valve is still in place and just you know," said Hasell, "Update your emergency kit so that should this turn into an emergency, it's a little bit more comfortable than it would be otherwise." 

Many farmers in the southeast were just beginning seeding thanks to heavy snow in the second half of April. A monitoring station at the Estevan airport recorded 11.2 millimetres of rain during Tuesday's storm, though the nearby communities of Bienfait and Benson weren't hit by the deluge.

You can track the system as it approaches using the radar here, and find more weather information here.