Alberta Annual Precipitation Normals 1971-2000

30-year precipitation normals for Alberta provide a stable baseline for the province's present climate, filtering short-term weather fluctuations. This dataset, created by the Government of Alberta using ArcGIS, details total annual moisture from rain, snow, and hail across varied topography. It serves as a long-term planning tool for agricultural and land-use decisions.

Use Cases

• Model crop yield potential using the 30-year precipitation normals and the fact that 50-60% of annual precipitation occurs during the growing season in agricultural areas.
• Compare precipitation variability across regions using the described greater variability in southern Alberta versus the Peace River Region and central Alberta.
• Assess long-term water availability for land-use planning by analyzing the geospatial distribution of precipitation, which is greatest in the mountains and decreases at lower elevations.

Strengths

• 30-year temporal coverage provides a stable climate normal, filtering short-term fluctuations.
• Geospatial data allows analysis of precipitation patterns across Alberta's varied topography and agricultural regions.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column names, and sample data are unavailable for assessing dataset size and structure.
• Data is temporally stale, representing a historical period (1971-2000) rather than recent conditions.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta

Collection Method

Created using ArcGIS; specific source instrumentation unknown.

Time Range

1971 to 2000

Freshness

null

Geography

Alberta, Canada