Prince George, B.C. – The monthly reports  on the snowpack in B.C. indicate the Province  could see   lower steam flows for  the spring and summer in  Northern B.C.

The first report of 2017  shows the Nechako basin is at 90% of normal,  but the Upper West  and Upper Fraser East are both well below where they would normally  be in January.   Upper Fraser West is at 59%   while the Upper Fraser East is at 62% of the normal  snowpack for January.    The Peace is at 59% of normal,  while the Skeena-Nass is  at 65%.

The River Forecast Centre   says  the Province has “below-normal snow pack for January 1st, with the average of all snow measurements at 82%.”

The Centre  says there are two  weather factors that  have created this scenario.   The first is  the warm  November, which “led to a delay in the early season accumulation of snow, and in some areas led to melting of the early season snow that had fallen in October.”   The second factor is that  Arctic Air flow that  covered much of   B.C. during December,  leading to dry  conditions across Northern B.C.

The River Forecast Centre report says that normally, by early January, ” nearly half of the annual BC snowpack has typically accumulated.”   Although it is still early in the snowpack surveys and things could change ,  the River Forecast Centre says ” Currently observed low snow pack in some regions of the province, particularly the northern third of the province, is an early indication of the potential for lower than normal stream flow in the spring and summer this year.”