The risk of seasonal flooding remains on the high side for the region thanks to a higher-than-normal snow pack, according to the B.C. River Forecast Centre.
In an April bulletin, the provincial agency reports the Upper Fraser West snow basin was 120 per cent of normal, the one exception to the rest of the province's basins sitting at normal or below-normal snow levels.
Despite the anomaly, the April 1 average measurement of snow water was 73 per cent of normal, which is the second-lowest provincial average recorded in the last 31 years.
"Flooding is always possible during the snow melt freshet season, even in years with normal or lower than normal snow packs," the bulletin said. "Given the snow conditions this year for most of the province, extreme weather, such as extreme precipitation or combined hot and wet weather, would be required to produce flooding or higher than expected flows."
Warm temperatures province-wide - leading to precipitation falling as rain instead of snow - and mid-season melting have also contributed to above-normal river flows.
"In the interior plateau, early snow melt runoff is leading to very high flows in some medium-sized rivers around Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake and surrounding areas," said the centre's bulletin.
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)
