The recent wet weather and cooler temperatures have put a dent into the ongoing drought in the province.
“For the most part, the northern sections of the province, including Prince George were the areas that really had severe drought last year that lingered into the winter and still having those drought conditions lingering,” said BC River Forecast Hydrologist Jonathan Boyd.
Boyd said last week the drought level in the Upper Fraser East was reduced to level two from level three, on a scale of zero to five.
“We’re still not out of the woods yet, and we have a long way to go to get into a better situation,” Boyd said.
“For the most part, compared to last year, we had less of a snowpack, but in terms of weather conditions, it’s been far better from a drought perspective this year compared to last year, which was just incredibly hot and dry through May.”
Some areas to the northeast remain at either level four or five.
“That’s an area that can bounce back fairly quickly in the spring,” he explained.
“The downside of when it does bounce back is that it does need to have the big kind of wraparound low-pressure systems that Alberta can get, which caused flooding in Calgary in 2013, and flooding for Dawson Creek in 2016.”
Towards the end of November 2023, much of North Eastern BC was in level five drought conditions, which persisted through the winter and into the spring.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].