Heavy rain expected to continue for parts of southern, central Sask.

Portions of Saskatchewan could see heavy rain to end the work week as a low pressure system from the U.S. works its way north.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)has issuedrainfall warnings and special weather statementsfor places like Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Estevan, Yorkton,Humboldt and Hudson Bay.

Rain beganThursday evening for far southern regions, with the heaviest amounts falling by mid-morning Friday. Steady rain is expected to continue through the day on Friday, before ending early Saturday.

The City of Weyburn is asking residents to reduce their water consumption due to the community seeing 61.2 mm of rain since Thursday afternoon. The city said the restriction is a precaution to allow the sewer system enough capacity to handle the excessive storm water.

General rainfalls between 30 and 60 millimetres are possible, with north winds gusting to 80 kilometres per hour at times, according to ECCC. Thunderstorms embedded in the system could produce higher rainfall totals in some locations.

Areas in the southwest that desperately need moisture could see 10 to 20 mm by the time the system exits on Saturday. But places like Saskatoon,Prince Albert andwest-central Saskatchewanwill likely see less than 10 mm of rain, if any at all.

This system comes after weeks of back-to-back storms that brought significant snow and strong winds tothe southeast. Many of the areas affected by those storms will likely be hitby this system.

Moisture not falling where it's needed

The latest provincial crop report for the week of May 3 to 9 shows between one and seven per cent of crop has been seeded in eastern Saskatchewan the area of the province with the slowest progress.

"Many fields in the eastern half of the province are still too wet to allow producers to seed," the report says."Full-scale seeding is still a week away in some parts of the province."

Many areas in the east are also reporting a "surplus" of moisture when it comes to topsoil conditions.

According to the Water Security Agency, snow isstill melting in the Porcupine Hills, the upper portions of the Assiniboine River Basin northwest of Preeceville andareas in the Swan River Basin near the Manitoba border.

While most river flows have peaked, flows along the Swan River are still rising.

"Additional rainfall like we saw near Hudson Bay and Deschambault Lake over the past weekend could see higher water levels remain in place for longer that could lead to localized flooding," the agency said in a Tuesday news release.

Most of northern Saskatchewan should not be affected by this system, meaning areas that saw impacts from heavy rain this past weekend will stay dry for the most part.