The BC River Forecast Centre says the North and South Thompson Rivers will be peaking about two weeks ahead of normal this year.

Section head Dave Campbell says the timeline is beacuase of lower than normal snowpacks, an early snowmelt in mid-elevation areas and current hot weather.

“I think in the next few weeks here we’ll probably see the peak on the North Thompson… and then the South Thompson is probably going to be as we come into June before we see that. So we are in that period of seasonal high flows regardless of that low snowpack,” Campbell says.

With the upcoming May Long weekend in mind, Campbell says the rising rivers can pose a safety risk at this time of year.

“Even with the low snow, we have hot weather coming in right now. The rivers are going to be coming up over the next period of time. And so certainly safety around the rivers is important.”