The warning for a once-in-20-year high water event on the Thompson rivers has not materialized, according to the forecasters.
Section head with the BC River Forecast Centre Dave Campbell says right now the rivers are flowing at levels typically seen once every five-to-10 years, on average. He says the projection for a once-in-20-year high water event was based on a higher than normal snowpack, but says snow has melted at a relatively ideal pace this spring.
Campbell says the peak of the flood risk this season appears to be over.
“We’re certainly not past it yet,” Campbell continues, speaking to ongoing flood risk. “We’ve seen that the rivers are still quite vulnerable to rainfall, so it’s going to be a few weeks still before we can fully stand down. But with the flows – the South Thompson is as high as its been all year – it’s still a bit early to stand down on that.”
A high streamflow advisory remains in place for the South Thompson River, and Campbell says the North Thompson River spiked on the weekend because of rain further up the valley.
The Thompson River west of the Overlanders Bridge has rise by nearly a full foot since Saturday morning, which Campbell attributes to recent rain and partially to warmer temperatures, which have slightly sped up the snowmelt in the alpine.
At 7.198 metres high, the Thompson River is now one-third of a metre below its peak that was hit so far this year, on June 4, of 7.517 m.