Snow Pack Normal

By 250 News

Snowpacks throughout the province have continued to build during February, with some areas experiencing periods of very heavy snowfall. As of March 1, on average, greater than 80 per cent of the winter's snowpack has accumulated.


Current Snowpack:
Much of the Interior is experiencing near normal snowpacks ranging from 90 to 110 per cent. The North Thompson River basin has above normal snowpacks at 120 per cent of normal. The South Thompson is at 103 per cent of normal.  The Upper Fraser River and Liard River basins experienced notable change in snow conditions, with the Upper Fraser seeing an increase from 100 per cent of normal at Feb. 1 to 112 per cent at March 1, and the Liard from 85 per cent of normal at Feb. 1 to 105 per cent at March 1.

With the end of winter approaching, the current near normal snow accumulation provides a favourable outlook for spring and summer streamflow and water supply for most areas in B.C. In the North  Thompson River basin, current results show a likelihood of higher than  normal spring runoff, dependent on the amount of additional snowfall  this winter. The snowpack in the Okanagan, Kettle, Similkameen and  Nicola basins of the south central Interior suggest the possibility of  below normal streamflow and water supply this summer in those areas.

Upper Fraser and  Nechako Basins:

The snow water index for the Upper Fraser is 112% of normal for March 1st, a significant increase from 100% at Feb 1st. Low and mid elevation snow is generally near or above normal (e.g., Prince George A = 97%, Burns Lake = 109%, Pacific Lake = 111%). High elevation snow courses are varying between 91% and 123% of normal.

The Nechako snow water index is 100% of normal, increased from 95% at Feb 1st (and well below last year's level of 167%). The Mount Pondosy (1B08P), Mount Wells (1B01P) and Tahtsa Lake (1B02P) snow pillows are all 85-101% of normal. The Skins Lake snow course (1B05) is 105%.

North East Region:

Precipitation in the Peace has been above normal for the November-February period. As a result, snow accumulations have been generally greater than normal. The snow water index for the Peace River basin is 110% of normal at March 1st. Most snow courses are above normal, with the highest reading being Pine Pass (4A02) at 131%.

For the Liard River basin, snow water equivalencies range between 72% at Fort Nelson A (4C05) and 118% at Watson Lake A (YK01), with a basin average of 105%.

North West Region:

The Skeena/Nass basins have a snow water index of 101% of normal for March 1st, an increase from 95% at February 1st. For the three snow courses with the longest periods of record, Hudson Bay Mountain (4B03A), located near Smithers, is 106%, Johanson Lake (4B02), located in the north-east corner of the basin, is 100%, and Kidprice Lake (4B01) is 101%. All have increased over the past month. The Tsai Creek (4B17P) snow pillow is 114% of normal. Western portions of the Skeena basin appear to have a lot of snow, with the low elevation Terrace A (4B13A) at 197% of normal.

Based on a very limited survey, the Stikine basin appears to be below normal. The Kinaskan Lake (4D11P) and Wade Lake (4D14P) snow pillows are 74% and 133% of normal, respectively. Iskut (4D02) is 72% of normal.

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