Name
Evaluating the Changes and Drivers of Change in Snow Hydrology Across the Canadian Prairies
Date & Time
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Description
Snow is a major component of the manageable freshwater supply on the semiarid Canadian Prairies. With about one third of annual precipitation historically falling as snow, changes to the snow distribution processes have profound impacts on accumulation, infiltration to frozen soils, and runoff generation. To assess trends and changes in Prairie snow processes and water budgets, a prairie snow hydrology model created in the Cold Regions Hydrological Modelling platform was forced with ERA-5 reanalysis data from 1950 to 2020 and applied to 4175 “virtual basins” (each ~100km2) across the Canadian Prairie ecozone. Each basin was subdivided into hydrological response units (HRU) corresponding to fallow and cultivated fields, and the impact of changing land use and climate on simulated blowing snow transport, sublimation, accumulation, snowmelt, infiltration and runoff fluxes was analysed from 1950 onwards. Increasing temperatures over time have reduced the fraction of precipitation falling as snow to 25% of total annual precipitation, and, along with declining wind speeds, have suppressed snow redistribution processes, with the primary driver of suppression varying by region and land-cover type. The net effect of changing snowfall and blowing snow transport and sublimation on SWE has been mixed, with maximum snow accumulation increasing towards the East, and decreasing in the far West. Land-cover remains an important determinant of overall snow accumulation, but the difference between fallow and cultivated fields has declined over time.
Location Name
McInnes Room
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
110
Speaker Organization
University of Saskatchewan
Session Name
H9 (1 of 2)
Co-authors
Peter Lawford (Univ Saskatchewan), John Pomeroy (Univ Saskatchewan).
Presenting Author
Zoë Johnson, University of Saskatchewan