Mountain snowpack lower than normal
Posted Mar 11, 2015 9:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
This winter has been very mild, with little snow in Calgary, and it’s a similar story in the mountains.
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development says the snowpack, and the associated forecast runoff, is currently below or much below average in southern Alberta.
Public Affairs Officer Duncan MacDonnell tells 660News that could change over the next few months.
“We can still get snowfall through March and April,” he says. “In the mountains, typically the peak snowpack occurs in April. So we still have time to get more snow in there.”
He also points out rain is the major trigger for flooding in Alberta, but if there’s a high snowpack combined with a heavy rainfall, it can make the situation worse.
“Although the snow melt is an important factor, it’s the rainfall amount, the intensity, the location and the duration that are the primary variables for river flooding in June.
Click here to view the ESRB snowpack reports.
