Flood Review

[Fancy]

heads up city of kelowing , you morons ,might want to looking into draining the lake a little earlier that normal this year if it's not to much to ask

You do realize the link has already been posted? And you do realize it is Mr. Reimer who is in charge as head for public safety and protection with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources?

And speaking of...of course it's known the size of the Okanagan River Channel dictates how much water can be sent down in a safe manner.

[gman313]

These type of uneducated comments are ridiculous. It is way to early to predict any type of spring run off.

[kgcayenne]

You will all be ticked at him if he releases that water only to have the wind whip up to reduce the snowpack and leave us in a drought situation for summertime.

Predict the wind.
Predict the rain.

Just make it all work, right? Easy peasy.

[GordonH]

What is there bases for normal, reason I say this as a kid I went skiing up at Silver Star (back in 70s).
220 to 250cm base was a regularly thing around this time of year, just checked 161cm.

I'm guessing it's the new normal. lol

[common_sense_guy]

If you want to know where the snowpack really is,ask a snowmobiler that goes farther up into the hills. There are meter sticks at various locations that give an accurate level. And a lot of them are above Silver Star and big white elevation. I tend not to believe as much what the "authorities" Tell us .

[Rider59]

More to it than just the amount of snow pack. You have to consider the Snow Water Equivalent also.

http://www.rdno.ca/press-releases/2017_ ... levels.pdf

[Urban Cowboy]

Yep there's snow up in them thar hills, so pull the plug on the lake and drain that sucker now.

[Glacier]

What is there bases for normal, reason I say this as a kid I went skiing up at Silver Star (back in 70s).
220 to 250cm base was a regularly thing around this time of year, just checked 161cm.

I'm guessing it's the new normal. lol

Normals are the 1981-2010 averages.

As for the Okanagan, it's the one region in BC that's had the most decrease in snowpack since 1950.

As for Silver Star, they stopped recording January 1st snowpack way back in 1999, and they stopped recording February 1st snowpack back in 2015.

Here's the complete record for February 1st from 1959 to 2015....

More to it than just the amount of snow pack. You have to consider the Snow Water Equivalent also.

http://www.rdno.ca/press-releases/2017_ ... levels.pdf

Snowpack IS the snow-water-equivalent!

[Rider59]

More to it than just the amount of snow pack. You have to consider the Snow Water Equivalent also.

http://www.rdno.ca/press-releases/2017_ ... levels.pdf

Snowpack IS the snow-water-equivalent!

Not according to this from the USEPA...

https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/ ... s-snowpack

Temperature and precipitation are key factors affecting snowpack, which is the amount or thickness of snow that accumulates on the ground

[GordonH]

What is there bases for normal, reason I say this as a kid I went skiing up at Silver Star (back in 70s).
220 to 250cm base was a regularly thing around this time of year, just checked 161cm.

I'm guessing it's the new normal. lol

Normals are the 1981-2010 averages.

As for the Okanagan, it's the one region in BC that's had the most decrease in snowpack since 1950.

snowpacktrends.png

As for Silver Star, they stopped recording January 1st snowpack way back in 1999, and they stopped recording February 1st snowpack back in 2015.

Here's the complete record for February 1st from 1959 to 2015....

silverstar.png

More to it than just the amount of snow pack. You have to consider the Snow Water Equivalent also.

http://www.rdno.ca/press-releases/2017_ ... levels.pdf

Snowpack IS the snow-water-equivalent!

I just posted what I remembered as teenager on the drive up to Silver Star listening to CJIB & snow report, then going to Silver Star site & seeing snow based is right now.

Thank-you for the info Glacier

[motokelowna1]

Should start to do a TRUMP( start draining the swamp )

[Frisk]

There's snow in them thar hills.

Snowfall warning in effect for:

Central Okanagan - including Kelowna
North Okanagan - including Vernon
South Okanagan - including Penticton
Snowfall, with total amounts of 15 to 20 cm is expected.

...Heavy Snow on Thursday...

An arctic front sliding southward across the BC Interior today is leaving much colder air in its wake. Meanwhile, an approaching pacific storm will move across the southern BC interior Thursday. Moisture from this system will combine with the cold air and result in heavy snow for the Kootenay and Southern Interior regions.

The snow will begin overnight and ease Thursday evening. Widespread snowfall amounts of 10 to 15 cm are expected. Locally heavier amounts up to 20 cm are possible over high elevation routes.

[Glacier]

Wow, may as well kill myself now since there's not enough time to build an ark by May 1st.

[Drip_Torch]

More to it than just the amount of snow pack. You have to consider the Snow Water Equivalent also.

http://www.rdno.ca/press-releases/2017_ ... levels.pdf

And, this just in from NASA, apparently there could be even more to it than that.

A study of the Colorado river basin from 2005 to 2014, found the effects of dust dominated the pace of the spring runoff, even in the years with warm spring temperatures. On the flip side, they couldn't find a statistical correlation between air temp and the pace of runoff.

A new study has found that dust, not spring warmth, controls the pace of spring snowmelt that feeds the headwaters of the Colorado River. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the amount of dust on the mountain snowpack controls how fast the Colorado Basin's rivers rise in the spring regardless of air temperature, with more dust correlated with faster spring runoff and higher peak flows.

The study, titled "Variation in rising limb of Colorado River snowmelt runoff hydrograph controlled by dust radiative forcing in snow," was published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/dust-o ... se-in-west

"Dust on snow does not only impact the mountains that make up the headwaters of Colorado River. Surface darkening has been observed in mountain ranges all over the world, including the Alps and the Himalaya. What we learn about the role of dust deposition for snowmelt timing and intensity here in the western U.S. has global implications for improved snowmelt forecasting and management of snow water resources."

ETA: Not one to argue with rocket scientists, but couldn't this study have been more aptly titled, ... runoff hydrograph controlled by dust conduction forcing in snow? Darker snow leading to a higher conductivity. Sure, the primary heat source is the sun's radiation, but its the conductivity that's allowing that heat to be absorbed and transferred. That would work in tandem with higher ambient air temps.

Either way Glacier, - "Ark", meh, - might be too soon to call, but I'm keeping an inflatable boat close and I'll start on the bags a little earlier this year.

[goodswimmer]

Been talking about this for days already .


Mayor better not try to blame global warming again

What is it if not global warming lol ?