The solid blue line is the water level. The red lines are the amount of water flowing by the measuring station. The solid red line is the current flow (or discharge) rate and the dotted line is the average.The discharge rate is currently below average.

Average snowpack in the Skeena/Nass watershed basins is about 20% above normal. Last year the snowpack was 62% above normal. Snowpacks at low elevations are 50% to 75% above normal for this time of year.

Weather during the early part of April was cool, with a period of warming to seasonal normals beginning around the middle of the month. This began the melt of low elevation snow and caused river levels to begin to rise.

Larger rivers, such as the Bulkley, Skeena, Nass, Nechako, Stikine and Liard River mainstems, will most likely reach their spring runoff peaks sometime between mid-May and mid-June, depending on spring weather. The above normal snow pack means it is possible there will be higher than usual peak flows on the mainstem rivers, such as the Skeena and Nass, and in their tributary basins.For the basins with above normal snowpacks, whether or not flooding occurs is very dependent on the weather during the snowmelt period. The major risk factors to produce flooding are an extended period (e.g., 5+ days) of temperatures well above normal (e.g., 5+ degrees above normal) during the middle or latter part of May (this would be "hot" weather, with temperatures in the mid- and upper-20's); or a widespread, significant frontal rain storm, bringing 40+ mm of rain over a couple of days over large watershed areas.

The current weather forecast is for temperatures to rise to near seasonal averages by the weekend, and then to rise to 3-6 degrees above normal for the early part of next week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Apr 27-29). This period of warm weather will produce significant melt of the low elevation snow, and will bring river levels up noticeably by Monday or Tuesday. Some small creeks and streams throughout the north-west may experience high flows and potentially localized flooding by next week, depending on their local snow conditions.