River Forecast Centre ‘cautiously optimistic’ things are leveling off

KAMLOOPS — Cautious optimism expressed Thursday when it comes to the flooding situation in the province.

Dave Campbell, head of the BC River Forecast Centre, made the comment to reporters during an afternoon teleconference where he said things had levelled off following last week’s hot temperatures that were upwards of 10 degrees above normal.

“And that really led to a rapid transition into the melt season. We did see rapid melting of what I’ll call the mid-elevation snowpack, that 1,000 to 1,500 metre elevation,” he said. “And in some rivers that caused challenges. At the higher elevations we’ve seen that transition and the onset of the broader snow melt season so those areas are now starting to melt and starting to contribute to flow and we’ll see that in the weeks ahead.”

But slightly cooler temperatures this week have meant areas like the Nazko in the Cariboo and the Bonaparte in Cache Creek have seen “a slowdown,” though he’s not confident enough to call the situation stable yet.

“I think we’re in a period where we might expect to see some warming weather through the rest of this week and early next week and that may nudge things up a little bit,” he said.

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Looking ahead, Campbell said the River Forecast Centre will release its next report on Monday, until then, he said a couple of major variables are at play.

“It’s hard to nail down exactly over the next day or two if we can hold steady despite warmer temperatures that will a little bit of reassurance we’re maybe at the peak barring any significant rainfall or extreme heat.”