A dry and warm past several weeks is setting up for potential drought in the Kamloops-area according to new data from the province.

The snowpack in the alpine is 11 per cent below normal in the North Thompson, 25 per cent below normal in the South Thompson and 34 per cent below normal in the Nicola.

River forecast centre section head Dave Campbell says province-wide the snowpack right now is 21 per cent below normal, which he says is less than a once-in-a-decade occurrence.

“Particularly with the warm weather we had late March, we look at some of the real-time weather stations that are recording the snow information, we’re seeing that they’re starting to melt, and melt fairly quickly. And that’s fairly early for those stations, it could be as much as a month earlier than normal.”

Campbell says while rainfall right now would help drought conditions, he says in some places that could also mean an increased risk of flooding as the snow melts in the alpine.