The warmer-than-normal temperatures in our province are causing an increase in flows for BC’s Rivers.
According to the BC River Forecast Centre, the Prince George area is in a high streamflow advisory, while areas in the Cariboo are in a Flood Watch.
“We’ve got the main stem of the Fraser River and that’s starting to kind of churn it’s way up,” said Dave Campbell, Head of the BC River Forecast Centre.
“We’ve seen particularly at the higher elevations that the warm weather at the higher elevations that this warm weather over the past week has really just started to kick off the snowmelt into the mountains and starting to feed into the Fraser.”
Campbell added where they have more concern is the plateau rivers around Prince George.
“Things like the Salmon River, Willow River, areas out to the West of Prince George, the Chilako, and down south into areas of the Cariboo, where lots of mid-elevation terrain and that snowmelt has been more accelerated over the last week,” he explained.
“Those are areas where we see quite high flows right now and have been monitoring closely for any potential concerns or issues that might emerge from that.”
Campbell noted that weather-wise, the key focus is going to be on this next week.
“The snowpacks are looking a little bit more on the below normal side in those areas, so overall the seasonal risk is considered to be normal or even below normal,” he said.
“We’re certainly are watching for that potential for adverse weather conditions that could drive any flows of concern or flooding later in the year.”
The BC River Forecast Centre’s next snow survey and water supply bulletin will be released on May 9th.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
