River level at South Fort George monitoring site   graph courtesy Water Survey of Canada

Prince George, BC – The BC River Forecast Centre has now issued a Flood Warning for the Fraser River at Prince George and upstream, as well as from Quesnel all the way to the Fraser Canyon.  And the Centre says preliminary forecasts show the river peaking at a high of between 10.2m and 10.6m at South Fort George on Tuesday or early Wednesday…more than one metre above the flood level.

The Centre issued a High Streamflow Advisory on Thursday in anticipation of weekend rain, and says with amounts of betwen 30-50mm falling over the past 36-hours, streamflows and river levels have been responding.

Rapid river flows have been observed on the river at McBride, on the Dore River near McBride, and at McGregor in the Lower Canyon.  The Centre says river levels through Prince George are just starting to rise, with the monitoring site at South Fort George pegging the water level at 8.8-metres and rising.

And while the peak is forecast to climb above the 10-metre mark, the Centre says, "This is likely to change as there is still rain falling in the headwaters, and tributaries upstream of Prince George have not completed their response to this event.

A High Streamflow Advisory has now been issued for the Lower Fraser, as all this water makes its way down south.  It’s expected to peak on late Thursday or Friday.