An Environment Canada meteorologist says while the rain in Kamloops this time of year will help reduce the wildfire risk in the province, it is concerning from a flooding perspective.

Doug Lundquist was speaking to NL News after a relatively cool and rainy week in the Kamloops area.

“There’s a few creeks that are already high and this rain amount is only going to add to that,” he said. “So its kind of a delicate balance there between fire weather and the freshet melt.”

There is rain in the forecast today, but Lundquist says to expect more sunshine and temperatures close to – possibly even over – 30 degrees in the Kamloops area by the upcoming weekend.

City Response

The mayor of Kamloops says the city continues to work with the BC River Forecast Centre as it anticipates a one in 20 year flood on the Thompson River.

Ken Christian is once again urging Kamloopsians to stay away from flood protection measures in areas like Riverside Park, with more flood protection work set to happen this week.

“We will be deploying some of our storm sewer blockages and we want to make the travelling public aware that those will be impeding traffic in some areas,” he said.

Christian is also asking boaters to be cautious and travel very slowly on the Thompson River for the next few weeks, to reduce the amount of wakes that are formed on the water surface.

“A wake is going to add to the flood risk and erode our dyking system so our boat launches are open, but please respect the property on the riverbanks,” Christian added.

Latest data from the BC River Forecast Centre show snowpack in the North Thompson is 12 per cent above normal, while the South Thompson is 10 per cent above normal. Both of those figures were down from two weeks ago when the North Thompson was 18 per cent above normal, and the South Thompson was 24 per cent above normal.

You can check out a list of flood warnings and watches here.