Snowpack above normal

While the average snowpack across the Okanagan basin has begun approaching normal levels, there remains cause for concern in some areas, according to the B.C. Rivers Forecast Centre.

A bulletin released Monday pegs the snowpack in the Okanagan basin at an average of 115% of normal as of March 1. That’s down from 129% as of Feb. 1.

However, the snowpack feeding Mission Creek in Kelowna was pegged at 144% of normal, while the McCulloch Reservoir was at 157%. To the south, the Summerland reservoir was at 135% of normal, while Trout Creek was 111%.

Further skewing the overall picture, according to Rivers Forecast Centre hydrologist Jonathan Boyd, is the lack of some data from the Penticton area, due to illness.

“I think the Okanagan should be more about 120% or 125%” above normal, said Boyd.

And a few percentage points matter, because it’s above the 120% mark when the risk of spring flooding increases.

Boyd, however, said much is riding on the weather for the next few months.

A stretch of warm, dry weather will help ease the flood threat, while unseasonable heat and precipitation will heighten it.

For example, in the flood years of 2017 and 2018, the Okanagan basin snowpack was at 86% and 141% of normal, respectively, as of March 1.

Outside of the Okanagan, the Similkameen basin was at 112% of normal as of March 1, while the Boundary basin was 134%.

The greatest area of concern now lies along the banks of the Fraser River, with snowpack in its tributary basins ranging from 113% to 135% of normal.

B.C. typically receives 80% of its seasonal snowfall by March 1.The next bulletin is due April 8.