Rain check please? May downpours mean cancelled ball games, long days for Winnipeg's larviciding crews

A downpour of rain in May backed up sewers, flooded basements and saturated outdoor fields and flower beds — dampening the spirits of athletes and gardeners across southern Manitoba.

Winnipeg and the Red River Valley saw about double the normal May amount of precipitation last month, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

All that rainy weather has left baseball teams in Winnipeg scrambling to reschedule games and practices just as their season begins, says the chair of the Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association. 

"Typically teams would have been playing their ninth or 10th game this week, and they're probably playing Game 6 or 7 instead," said Dan Cox, who is also president of Red River Valley Baseball, a youth baseball association for the area in and around northeast Winnipeg.

The diamond at the Henri Constant Field on Kildare Avenue, where Cox coaches, was covered in puddles Tuesday, including a soggy outfield. 

"We got a few emails today for a number of cancellations," Cox told CBC Tuesday. "I would be very, very surprised if there are any games going on tonight."

Last month was a particularly wet May for southern Manitoba, Environment Canada meteorologist Stephen Berg confirms.

"Many places were in the top 10, top 20 in terms of wettest Mays on record. Brandon, for instance, had 114 millimetres, and the normal is about 60. Red River Valley, Winnipeg was about double the monthly mean."

That's continued as June begins, with parts of southern Manitoba getting more rain this past Sunday and Monday.

Spring or early summer rainstorms aren't abnormal, said Berg, but "this has been quite interesting, that's for sure."

He did say, however, that southern Manitoba is expected to be a little drier over the next few weeks. 

That may be good news for people worried about basement flooding. 

A spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg said there were 57 reports of sewers backing up last week. The city didn't receive any reports involving basement flooding, but the city's numbers only account for people who make reports directly to them.

City crews have also been working overtime hours this past week to larvicide standing water sites to prevent the explosion of mosquitoes.