Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By James Peters

Low Snowpack

Province says B.C. snowpack near 40-year lows for mid-May

May 21, 2019 | 4:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — Provincial officials say the latest figures show among lowest snowpack conditions for this time of year in the past four decades. And the B.C. River Forecast Centre is warning of low streamflow conditions this summer, thanks to an accelerated snowmelt across the entire province.

New data from the May 15 snow survey shows the province averaging 64 per cent of normal snowpack. That includes readings as low as 32 per cent of normal on Vancouver Island and 41 per cent in the Similkameen.

Closer to Kamloops, the North Thompson basin is the closest to normal in all of B.C. at 85 per cent. The South Thompson basin measures at 72 per cent. Into the Cariboo, the Middle Fraser basin is at 66 per cent of normal.

The Forecast Centre says streamflow is near normal for this time of year, and the flood risk remains low due to the low snowpack measurements. While the North Thompson is predicted to continue its rise later this week, the Forecast Centre says the South Thompson is not expected to reach peak flow until early June.

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The Forecast Centre notes, along with 2015 and 2016, this year’s May 15 readings are among “the lowest May 15th snowpacks that have been observed in BC over the past 40 years.”

View the full report here.