Thompson rivers expected to peak this weekend, city says

Photo: Sydney Chisholm

Water is beginning to fill the parking lot at Riverside Park near the flood monument, shown here on Friday morning.

UPDATE: 12:24 p.m.

A “pulse” of water resulting from rainfall this week along the tributaries of the North Thompson and South Thompson rivers will cause Kamloops water levels to rise somewhat over the next 24 hours.

That’s what the head of B.C.’s River Forecast Centre told reporters on Friday morning on a call to update the province’s flood situation.

Dave Campbell said the agency is monitoring three things — continued runoff from this week’s storm, accelerated snowmelt due to warm weather this weekend and potential rainfall in the forecast for the middle of next week.

Campbell said runoff from this week’s storms will continue to flow down Interior rivers on Friday and Saturday.

“This is the case for the Thompson River, particularly as we go through Kamloops, as well as through Prince George on the Fraser River, and we expect that wave will come down and we’ll see that continued rise on the lower reaches of the Fraser River as we come into the weekend,” he said.

“It’s a fairly modest rise above what we’ve got in terms of the current levels, but it is representing the highest flow level that we have seen so far this year.”

Provincial models suggest the Thompson River will begin to recede later this weekend, with a possible rise late next week depending on the severity of the potential rainfall event.

A flood watch remains in place for the North Thompson River, the South Thompson River and the Thompson River from Kamloops to Spences Bridge.

ORIGINAL STORY: 10:23 a.m.

The Thompson River rose another foot overnight, but city officials expect the water to begin to recede in the coming days — likely without significant flooding.

Greg Wightman, utility services manager for the City of Kamloops, said levels are still about a metre shy of the 1999-mark.

“We have seen the river rise about a foot overnight here and with an expected peak sometime around tomorrow morning," he told reporters during an update Friday morning in Riverside Park.

"It's not going to be a peak followed by a drastic decline at this point. Because there's so much snow still to melt. It's going to keep the rivers very high. But we are going to see a bit of a peak and a gradual decline during the heat spell that we're gonna have here.”

How much the river rises depends on weather. According to Wightman, as long as the region doesn’t see any extreme weather over the next week, river levels should recede without any significant flooding.

"I wouldn't say I'm relieved yet, but we certainly avoided a drastic-looking event here," he said.

Wightman said the city hasn’t received many reports from residents concerned about flood protection as of Friday morning.

"Everything seems to be holding,” Wightman said.

“Ultimately, the river is actually at a relatively low level right now when you compare it to things like 2018 and 2020.”

The B.C. River Forecast Centre will update the situation across the province at 11 a.m. Castanet Kamloops will update this story with any relevant information.