B.C. has lowest snowpack on record, drought a concern: BC River Forecast Centre

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

April 10, 2024 - 1:44 PM

A hydrologist with B.C.'s River Forecast Centre says the April snow survey shows the lowest snowpack on record with the Okanagan faring worse than some parts of the province but better than others.

Jonathan Boyd says the snowpack provincially is 63% of normal, which may mean an increased risk for drought this spring and summer.

The latest monthly snow survey, which includes data from weather stations around the province, says that 95% of the seasonal snowpack typically accumulates as of April.

The forecast centre says dry conditions throughout March also left many northern and Interior regions "with near record low precipitation.”

In the Okanagan, two snow measuring stations recorded all-time low levels. The Trout Creek station was at a 14-year low and the Brenda Mine measurement was at a 28-year low. The Celista Mountain station in the South Thompson recorded the lowest snow water equivalent in 18 years.

Boyd says it is possible for snowpack to continue to climb into May if it is a cold or wet spring, adding that the "silver lining" is that flooding risk is lower for areas that consistently flood. But he says it is still possible for sudden or extreme rainfall, or persistent heavy rain to cause flooding "especially in smaller- or medium-sized rivers in the Interior.”

The seasonal water volume forecasts for Kalamalka and Wood lakes are troubling at 40 to 60% of normal with Nicola Lake and Okanagan Lake also looking at low water levels.

The predictions are driven by low water flows, dry weather, below normal snowpack and seasonal weather forecasts.

Better news for the South Thompson River where the season runoff forecast is 90 to 100%, or near normal.

Boyd says the low provincial snowpack, impacts of drought from previous years and the seasonal forecast are all cause for provincewide concern about drought, though it is too early to know for certain.

"We'll see what happens over the next maybe three to four weeks in terms of temperatures," he told a news conference Wednesday. "Ideally, what we'd like ... is seasonal temperatures with a little bit of precipitation.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2024.