Document

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Prairies and High Plains - March 2026

Document Author

ECCC and NOAA

Document File

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Prairies and High Plains - March 2026 (1.31 MB)

Document Date

March 17, 2026

Document Type

Outlooks

Document Description

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Canadian and U.S. Prairies and High Plains for December 2025–February 2026, with an outlook for April–June 2026. Dated March 2026.

Winter brought warmer than normal temperatures across much of the High Plains and the southern portions of Alberta and Saskatchewan, with warmer conditions becoming more noticeable late in the season. The strongest anomalies were observed across southern Montana, northern Wyoming, and portions of southwestern South Dakota. Regions surrounding central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba saw slightly cooler than normal conditions. The amount of snow on the ground across the Prairies and High Plains remained limited due to very warm temperatures over the season.

ECCC, NOAA, and partners created these climate outlooks to inform the public about recent climate impacts within their respective regions. Each regional report contains easy-to-understand language, and anyone can access them through the U.S. Drought Portal.