B.C.’s Boundary and Lower Thompson regions are bucking the provincial snow trend.
The south-central areas around Grand Forks and Merritt are sitting well above both the provincial average — and in Boundary’s case its own record — for snowpack development, according to the first snow conditions report from the province.
That contrasts dramatically with Vancouver Island and the Lower Fraser region, which are each registering levels at about one-third of what is typical.
The Boundary Region is sitting at 121 per cent of the average median, while the Lower Thompson is at 124 per cent, putting each well ahead of the provincial average of 79 per cent, according to the River Forecast Centre’s automatic snow weather station (ASWS) report, released Dec. 2.
It also puts each well ahead of immediate neighbours, with West Kootenay showing 72 per cent, South Thompson at 68 per cent, and Okanagan at 66 per cent.
Overall provincial numbers are behind last year’s, which started with an average of 114 per cent. However, the snow conditions commentary pointed out there are wide variations across the province.
As of Dec. 1, the lowest ASWS basin averages are in the Lower Fraser (31 per cent), Vancouver Island (34 per cent), and the South Coast (42 per cent). Other high averages are observed in the Liard (124 per cent) and Nechako (115 per cent) regions.
There was no data from the Skagit, Haida Gwaii, or West Road-Chilcontin regions.
“Snowpack development across B.C. got off to a solid start in October, with early-season accumulations generally running slightly above normal,” stated the snow conditions commentary published Dec. 2. “Through mid-November, snowpack growth tracked close to seasonal expectations before a period of dry, stable weather tempered further accumulation in late November.”
A preliminary Snow Basin Index (SBI) map for Dec. 1 has also been produced. This version uses the average percent-of-median for all stations within each basin, including those with shorter periods of record. This differs from the formal SBI methodology used in the Snow Bulletins, which is based solely on stations with measurements in the 1991–2020 normal period and incorporates manual snow survey data.
A full commentary and maps can be found at the River Forecast Centre’s website. Data from the Snow Survey Stations Interactive Map can be found on its website.