Key takeaways:
- Regional predictors evaluate the snowpack as high as 28% above average.
- Some centimeters of snow have reportedly gathered on the mountains.
Bundled in winter gear, Alexi Liotti and Manny Oyarce belt on their cross-nation skis atop Mount Seymour and venture off into the snow — just meters away from where they parked their vehicle.
“It still feels like winter,” states Liotti.
“Usually, it’s spring riding in May — it’s like T-shirts and slush, and you’re fortunate if you can do this,” Oyarce adds.
Some centimeters of snow has reportedly gathered on mountains along the North Shore and the Sea to Sky amid a storm wave event that struck B.C.’s South Coast through Wednesday and Thursday. This is in addition to an already above-average snowpack that has been recorded in B.C. mountains.
The unseasonable temperatures and more snow are a welcome shock for those who continue to take to B.C.’s mountains, but they have raised the chance of floods and avalanches once temperatures warm.
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According to hydrologist Jonathan Boyd with the B.C, forecasts calculate that the average snowpack is nearly 28 percent beyond normal levels, up from 13 percent reported in a May 1 bulletin. River Forecast Centre.
“With frigid temperatures through April, averaging approximately 1.5 to 4.5 degrees below average, it led to a delay in snowmelt and further expansion of the snowpack, ” he said.
“The cooler, wetter situations have stayed for the first half of May,” he added. “So we’re still seeing a little bit of extra snow pile on the peaks, which is pretty rare at this time of year.”
An official updated publication is anticipated to be released on Friday.
High flood risk
B.C. has wrestled with a historically cool and wet spring while under the effect of La Niña, leading to temperature lows not seen in decades.
Source – cbc.ca
