Snowpack Surge

Colder weather in March — and more snow — led to an increase in local snowpack levels.

The B.C. River Forecast Centre says snowpack in the South Thompson and Okanagan Basins — which supply the Duteau Creek and Kalamalka Lake supplies — were both around 105 percent of normal as of April 1st.

That’s up from the 85% of normal as of March 1.

The Centre says there was a significant increase in snowpack from their March readings as a result of colder than normal temperatures and more snowfall.

“Many areas of southern B.C. recorded 150%-300% of normal March precipitation, which helped move snowpack from February below normal levels to at or slightly above normal,” says a release from Greater Vernon Water.

The utility says the Duteau Creek storage reservoirs –Aberdeen, Haddo and Grizzly — are all at a normal range for this time of year.

GVW monitors snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE) 5 times per year, between January and May, at three sites near the Duteau  Creek water reservoirs to compare local and regional snowpack measurements.

The SWE is the amount of water contained within the snowpack.

The April 1st snow depth and SWE readings are normal or slightly above normal at all three sites.

The snow depth at the three sites ranged from 101-121% of normal and the SWE was 93-110 % of normal.

Seasonal forecasts from Environment and Climate Change Canada indicate an increased likelihood of above-normal temperatures over the April-June period.