
B.C.’s low snowpack, early-season melt raise drought concern: province
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s latest snowpack and water supply bulletin says drier, warmer weather last month has contributed to an early melt, raising concern for widespread drought this summer.
By early May, the bulletin says about five per cent of B.C.’s annual snowpack has typically melted, but 15 per cent had melted by the start of this month.
The bulletin from the province says snowpack was an average of 71 per cent of normal as of May 1, decreasing from 79 per cent of normal on April 1.
The figure is slightly higher than last year, when B.C.’s snowpack was an average of 66 per cent of what would be normal on May 1.