Shrinking snowpack gives way to drought fears

Mountain moisture at 51 per cent of normal as of June 1

The snowpack in the Okangan has decreased dramatically since mid-May, as officials predict increased risks of a drought.

The Okanagan Snowpack was at 51 per cent of normal on June 1, the River Forecast Centre’s reported on Thursday.

This is down from 126 per cent of normal on May 15 and 206 per cent of normal on May 1.

Last year on June 1, the snowpack in the Okanagan was at 228 per cent of normal.

“After an extremely warm May . . . we saw a pretty rapid transition from high snowpack levels to extremely low snowpack levels in a short amount of time,” said David Campbell, head of the River Forecast Centre.

“It definitely melted at a pace we haven’t seen very often if at all.”

Weather throughout May was dry and hot, with daily average temperatures around 3 C to 5 C above normal across the province.

The fast melt led to many flooding issues in the Okanagan in May, but with almost all the snow melted, the risk of flooding from snow melt is gone, said Campbell.

At high elevations, including the Mission Creek snow pillow, 20 per cent of the snow was left as of June 1, and Campbell predicted by Thursday only 10 per cent of the snow was left.

The risk of further flooding exists only if there is extreme rainfall this month.

Environment Canada is predicting a warmer and drier than normal summer, increasing the risks for low flows and drought, the River Forecast Centre stated in its report.

“This early melt and seeing the shift in seasons is what’s expected to happen more frequently,” said Campbell. “We are experiencing these unusually rapid melt periods in a way we haven’t’ experienced before.”