Preserve water in the valley – 2nd lowest snowpack in 31 years
The April 1st snow survey is now complete. Data from 154 snow courses and 49 snow pillows around the province and climate data from Environment Canada
Temperatures across British Columbia continued to be well above normal through the month of March. Temperatures were typically 1-3°C above normal along coastal areas of BC, and 3-5°C above normal across the interior. March sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific Ocean off the shores of British Columbia have continued to be 1-3°C degrees above normal, and NOAA’s National Climatic Data Centre is reporting that temperature anomalies off the BC coast have been at record high levels through the winter of 2014-15. March precipitation trends have been varied across the province, but in general have been well above normal (120-200%). Areas of the central interior (e.g. Merritt, Salmon Arm) and Okanagan experienced below normal (40-60%) precipitation. With increased temperatures, rainfall was the dominant form of precipitation through mid-elevation terrain.
Snow Pack
Snow pack accumulation trends from early in the season have persisted throughout March. Snow accumulation through the month has been modest, and in some cases some locations experienced a net loss of snow. Declines in snow basin indices were observed in almost all basins between the March and April surveys. With the exception of the Upper Fraser West, all regions of the province have near normal or below normal April 1st snow basin indices (Figure 1). Snow basin indices range from a low of 13% on the South Coast to a high of 120% in Upper Fraser West (Table 1 and Figure 1). The average of all provincial snow water equivalent measurements for April 1st is 73% of normal. This is the second lowest provincial average snow water equivalent in the past 31 years of record.
Table 1 – BC Snow Basin Indices – April 1, 2015
Basin % of Normal Basin % of Normal
Upper Fraser West 120 Boundary 61
Upper Fraser East 94 Similkameen 73
Nechako 106 South Coast 13
Middle Fraser 79 Vancouver Island 15
Lower Fraser 26 Central Coast 80
North Thompson 96 Skagit 34
South Thompson 92 Peace 98
Upper Columbia 86 Skeena-Nass 92
West Kootenay 72 Stikine 69
East Kootenay 76 Liard 104
Okanagan 76 Northwest