Extreme Weather Indices: Precipitation

Precipitation (moisture availability) establishes the economic yield potential and product quality of field crops. Both dry and wet precipitation extremes have the ability to inhibit proper crop growth. The maximum daily precipitation index covers the risk of excessive precipitation in the short term, while the other indices pertain to longer term moisture availability.

Agriculture is an important primary production sector in Canada. Agricultural production, profitability, sustainability and food security depend on many agrometeorological factors. Extreme weather events in Canada, such as drought, floods, heat waves, frosts and high intensity storms, have the ability to significantly impact field crop production.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) have together developed a suite of extreme agrometeorological indices based on four main categories of weather factors: temperature, precipitation, heat, and wind. The extreme weather indices are intended as short-term prediction tools and generated using ECCC’s medium range forecasts to create a weekly index product on a daily basis.