Friday, April 8th, the River Forecast Centre (RFC) will release its April 1st Snow & Water Supply Bulletin, considered the benchmark report for comparison between years.
As of March 17, the RFC puts the Okanagan snowpack at 92% of normal. However, the Mission Creek and Brenda Mines snow pillows are below 25% of normal for this time of year. Silver Star snow pillow is close to normal, but has a short period of record, so less reliable for forecasting.
The RFC has been improving their inflow forecasting models, but they are a work in progress with respect to inflow forecast accuracy. One unusual aspect of this winter is that, typically, we have more precipitation and cold temperatures in a La Niña winter.
NOAA is now predicting below normal precipitation for Eastern Washington for May – September (ECCC doesn’t have as detailed long-term seasonal forecasts). NOAA forecasts temperatures to be above normal for June – September.
