A higher than normal snowpack is causing a little concern for emergency planners who are watching river levels rise in most areas of B.C (BC Government)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

rising waters

Delayed summer temperatures & increased rainfall expanding flood concerns

Jun 13, 2022 | 5:24 AM

NANAIMO — A fashionably-late summer is causing some headaches for those watching waters rise.

Snowpack levels remain high across the province, due to a cooler and wetter than normal spring, which is causing a higher alert level for flooding in B.C. this summer.

Dave Campbell, head of the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said seasonal warming is finally coming, weeks after it would normally be expected.

“We’re seeing that snow is melting, it’s starting to bring up the rivers around the province. Many of them are approaching near capacity for the amount of flow they can handle and getting into that typical peak level we’re used to on a year to year basis.”

Vancouver Island’s snow pack level is roughly 169 per cent of normal, as of the Centre’s last report on June 1. It represents roughly double the amount compared to both 2021 and 2017 and over six times the amount on average for other years dating back to 2016.

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It means more water-to-be is sitting on mountain tops than is normal for this time of year.

Campbell said usually by June snow packs would be down around 50 per cent of peak, however to date only around 20 per cent on average had melted.

The added ammunition for rivers in the province is being timed with what Campbell called a critical period for the province this year.

“We are expecting with these rivers full, we are very much vulnerable to any kind of extreme weather pattern that might emerge. That could include hot weather scenarios which are still a concern, but also…on going or persistent rainfall pattern.”

Meteorologists aren’t seeing much hot weather on the immediate horizon, and nothing like the heat dome even in 2021 which began in late June.

However persistent rain will not only flow into low-lying rivers but also speed up melt at high elevations.

“Many of them are approaching near capacity for the amount of flow they can handle and getting into that typical peak level we’re used to on a year to year basis,” Campbell said.

As of Sunday, June 12, flood warnings were in place for northeastern B.C., which flood watches and high stream flow advisories were in place for the province’s far northwest along with a majority of the Interior.

Vancouver Island is yet to see any advisories, warnings or watches with all monitored rivers and discharge points showing normal output so far.

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