Late-season blast dumps snow
New white stuff adds to already near-record snowpack
April usually brings spring flowers. Yesterday it brought spring snow.
"This is a late-season blast," said meteorologist Terri Lang of Environment Canada in Kelowna.
"It's unusual. I think people are in shock," she said. "The snow is adding up. It's a worry. Every snowfall adds to [the snowpack]."
Lang said the snowfall added to B.C.'s already near-record snowpack, which has yet to begin melting because of the winter-like temperatures. The conditions for yesterday's snowfall were created by a high-moving mass of Arctic air that mixed with a warmer, wetter layer underneath.
"It's cold air and it's very unstable," Lang said. "There was snow and hail in the Fraser Valley.
"The freezing level was quite low."
Three centimetres of snow fell in Abbotsford, a near record snowfall for April in the Fraser Valley.
Vancouver got no more than a dusting, but it snowed on higher elevations such as Burnaby Mountain and the North Shore.
Vancouver's average snowfall for April is 0.14 centimetres.
Conditions were also frigid across the Prairies yesterdays. It snowed in Calgary.
"Fort Nelson had a record snowfall and it hasn't started to melt," Lang said. "The snow in Whitehorse hasn't started to melt. If the temperature remains cool, it means the snow is not melting."
Snowfall data is available on the River Forecast Centre on the web. The site is operated by the B.C. government.
Fears of flooding arise when a cool spring is followed by a sudden hot spell. Huge volumes of ice turn to water, creating a flood that can overflow B.C.'s many riverbanks.
The provincial government has set aside $33 million to shore up dikes and provide sandbags. Municipalities have approved 51 flood-plain projects totalling $15 million.
Larr said the Lower Mainland will be spared more Arctic conditions. It will warm up later this week and the rains will return.
"There will be moist air from the southwest, which means rain," she said. "I want people to be prepared."
kspencer@png.canwest.comRECORD RAINFALL IN MARCH
Pitt Meadows was all washed up in March.
The Fraser Valley community was drenched by 417 millimetres of rain last month. It burst the previous mark of 325 mm set in 1997.
"That's a lot of rain," said meteorologist Terri Lang.
Squamish was also drenched by 469 mm, the second highest mark ever after the 608 mm recorded in 1997. It was the second wettest March for most of the Lower Mainland, including Abbotsford, Vancouver airport and Vancouver harbour.
Two Pineapple Express rainstorms hit the Lower Mainland during the period.
The Express is an extreme wet-weather event that lasts three days or more.
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