Flood Review

[the truth]

well, now that these losers have a heads up , no reason for a local flood this year open the gates

[Frisk]

The 3 snow monitoring stations around the valley show the current snow levels are fairly close to where it peaked last year in mid/late April. First graph is from the Graystokes station (Mission creek drainage) east of Kelowna, second is the Brenda mines (Trepanier creek drainage) to the west and the third is Greyback lake (Penticton creek drainage) to the south. The Brenda mines snow levels are still within average range but the Graystokes levels appear highly above average. The Greyback lake station was added in 2015 so there's no average data yet.

[Jflem1983]

Thank u frisk. I was wondering about snow pack levels. I suspect everything will be fine this year. Sure hope so.

[Jlabute]

With snow packs higher than last year, are we worried about flooding and are any steps being taken to minimize possible flooding? Just curious if there is a coming problem.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/215800/Snowpack-123-of-normal

[GordonH]

123%, well everyone better run for high ground now.

[LTD]

bring on the hot weather

[Veovis]

Part of the issue last year was the mid and high snow packs all came down at once due to a combination of fast high temps and rain that washed it down.

I'm not too worried.

[Glacier]

With snow packs higher than last year, are we worried about flooding and are any steps being taken to minimize possible flooding? Just curious if there is a coming problem.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/215800/Snowpack-123-of-normal

Another "Award Winning" article from Castanet. Hint: it's not January anymore!

P.S.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Snow pack is at 141 percent now.
They are releasing water already..

[GordonH]

Snow pack is at 141 percent now.
They are releasing water already..

141% is maybe getting closer to snowpack levels of pre-mid 80s levels. imo since mid 80s snowpack levels have been much lower. This is only my opinion

[Glacier]

Highest at 4000 feet. For example, Aberdeen Lake is at a record shattering 188% of normal with 250mm of SWE (snow water equivalent) this year! That equates to 89cm of snow on the ground.

Other locations at this same elevation in the Okanagan are also very high. The Summerland Reservoir has 311 mm of SWE, 164% of normal. McCulloch is at 238mm of SWE, or 162% of normal.

Up near Kamloops and in the Cariboo, the snowpack in the 4000 ft range is closer to 200% of normal!

Big Creek in the Chilcotin has 94mm of SWE this year, which is 196% of normal.

Highland Valley between Kamloops and Merritt is at 203% of normal with 156 mm of SWE this year.

Also, it's amazing how much more snow the Okanagan normally gets than the Chilcotin and Thompson areas of the province at the same elevations. Big Creek gets 100mm of SWE, and that's 200% of normal. At the Summerland reservoir, that's way under the normal.

The two driest 4000ft spots in BC are Big Creek and Pavilion (located between Lillooet and Cache Creek). Both average 58 mm of SWE.

[Glacier]

Interesting fact: Mount Timothy in the Cariboo and Big effin' White in the Okanagan are at the same elevation, but Big White normally has way much snow (411mm of SWE versus 266mm). That's because the winter is the wet season in the Okanagan while the summer is the wet season in the Cariboo (generally speaking).

[gman313]

we aren't going to have any lake flooding unless big rains come as well. The lake has been lowered way more than normal.

Mark my words, with at or below average rainfall between now and June the lake will end up being too low.

Streams may flood a bit, that is more a function of how quickly the snow pack melts

but let's all panic

[swamp1967]

Anyone heard what pro-active plans the municipalities, the Province of BC, the Regional District putting are putting in place, besides adjusting the lake level? Ministry of Forests still hasn't followed up on the recommendations to their 2014 report ("LOWER MISSION CREEK HYDRAULIC CAPACITY STUDY KELOWNA, BC, March 2014) to remove gravel and fix critical parts of the Mission Creek dyke. I'm sure other creeks and rivers are being equally ignored.

[Glacier]

March 1st snowpack factz:

• The most above normal ever measured in BC at any station was Elk River on Vancouver Island (elevation 270m) in 1956 when it was 941% of normal. The normal is only 58mm of SWE (snow water equivalent) at this location.
• By FAR the deepest snow depths ever measured in BC on March 1st were in 1999. The highest of all was ORCHID LAKE north of Vancouver in the Seymour drainage with a snow depth of 750cm and a SWE of 2960mm. That's 202% of the normal.
• Snow depth is not the entire story because a big snow storm that hasn't settled yet might give you more depth, but less SWE. One place on the south coast had more SWE in 1999, PALISADE LAKE had 3150 mm SWE, which is 285% of normal.
• The most above normal March 1st snow depth ever recorded in the Okanagan Valley was ISINTOK LAKE (elevation 1651m) in 1972 at 271% of normal (358mm of SWE).
• The most below normal snowpack ever recorded in the Okanagan was MOUNT KOBAU (elevation 1817m) in 1977 at 24% of normal.
• The highest snow pack ever recorded in the Okanagan was at SILVER STAR MOUNTAIN (1834m) in 1974 at 912 mm of SWE. The snow was 2.57m deep!
• After 60 years of records they closed down the Silver Star station last year and replaced it with an automated station in a different location that gives a different result, so you can't compare them.
• Big White (elevation 1672m) is not in the Okanagan technically, but you might be wondering about its biggest snowpack ever. That was also in 1974 with a total of 676 mm of SWE (168% of normal).
• You might be wondering if there are any places in BC above 4000feet/1200m elevation that ever have no snow on the ground on March 1st. Yes there is. PAVILION near Lillooet is at 1209m, and only averages 58mm of SWE, and had zero mm on the ground in 1981, 1983, and 1988.