Historic Low Snow except in Corbiel

With the mild weather and below normal precipitation the last two weeks, the snowpack is well below normal for this time of year reports the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) who measures snow depth and water content as part of its Flood Forecasting and Warning Program.

The snowpack has decreased by 6.5 cm and the snow water equivalent increased by 4.3 mm since the last snow survey on January 15, 2024. “The average snow depth for all three locations is 19.7 cm (well below normal) and water equivalence for the three sites is 52.3 mm (below normal)”, said Angela Mills, NBMCA Water Resources Specialist. “Only 1988 recorded less snow than 2024 at Corbeil, while the North Bay and Shirley Skinner sites have recorded new historic minimum snow depth for this time of year”, she added. NBMCA has changed the way snow survey measurements are compared to historical conditions.

With day-to-day differences in snowpack conditions, these changes include reporting a range of normal values that would be expected in most years and communicating a comparison of current measurements relative to these normal conditions.

A new Snow Survey web page is available with more snow survey program information and this season's measurements. https://nbmca.ca/watershed-management/snow-survey/