Overlander Falls at the headwaters of the Fraser River on June 26, 2012

Prince George, BC – The cold spring we suffered through appears to have been the saving grace from potentially disastrous flooding in Prince George this year’s freshet…

With record snowpack levels in the Upper Fraser watershed, the region’s Senior Flood Hazard Officer, Lyle Larsen, says, "We actually dodged a very big bullet and I don’t think people really realize that."

The highest level ever recorded by the Water Survey of Canada at its monitoring site on the river at South Fort George was 10.442-metres in 1972.  This year, at its highest point, the Fraser peaked at 10.02-metres. 

"Given the snowpack," Larsen says, "We should have reached levels grather than the ’72 flood."  The fact we didn’t is attributable solely to Mother Nature.

"We had extraordinarily cold temperatures throughout the season at the upper levels and so that really slowed the snowmelt rate down and kept it at a slow and steady pace," says the Flood Hazard Officer.  "Further to that, there was a lot of cloud cover over the mountainous areas and, so, those sustained overcast conditions also prevented the sun from melting the snowpack, as well."

While there were two rain events in June – one at the beginning and the second around Father’s Day – Larsen says the heavy rain was just in certain areas and wasn’t enough to cause severe ‘rain-on-snow’ melt, which can lead to extreme flood levels.  "So all those things really helped us this year."

He predicts the worst is over for the freshet season, barring any major rain events.  While there is still snowpack left, particularly in the mountain range south of the Robson Valley, Larsen says even if it were to come off quickly now, the snowpack, itself, wouldn’t cause flooding here in Prince George.

Meantime, the Nechako River is still rising, but at a very slow rate of about one-centimetre per day and Larsen predicts that will continue over the next coming days.

For a comparison to the river level at Overlander Falls on the Fraser shown in the photo above, the picture below shows the same falls in September 2007.