Manitoba releases spring flooding outlook for 2026

The Red River flows north away from the city of Winnipeg, Sunday, May 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods/POOL

As we approach the period of spring runoff, Manitoba’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre is predicting a low-to-moderate risk of spring flooding.

The province released its latest flood outlook on Wednesday, explaining the flood risk is still mainly dependent on the weather conditions from now through the melt period.

The outlook reports that most lakes are expected to remain within desired operating ranges following spring runoff, with a low risk of flooding.

As for the rivers, there’s a moderate risk of flooding for the Red, Pembina, Assiniboine, Souris, Qu’Apelle, Icelandic and Fisher rivers.

However, for the Red and Assiniboine River tributaries, including the Rat and Roseau rivers, the risk of flooding is low.

What are the current conditions?

According to the province, basin conditions are currently indicative of low-to-moderate spring runoff potential.

It noted that soil moisture at freeze-up is near normal to below normal; winter precipitation has ranged from near normal to below normal in several regions; and soil frost depths are somewhat shallow, which will allow for better infiltration of meltwater.

Lake levels across Manitoba are within operating ranges.

The next flood outlook is expected to be released next month.