Alberta's Snowpack: Above Average, Dense, and Strong

0:00It's April 1st. This is Vancouver News today, powered by AI. Teens in southern Alberta are tracking snowpack levels across the province this winter, and they're finding above-average depths, especially in the Mountain Parks and Bo River Basin. River forecast engineer Nathalie Burnett says it's deeper and denser snow than usual, with planes areas also packing more plunge, while spots like the Old Man River hover closer to normal. Every month from November to June, Water Monitoring Technologists fan out to collect data, which Burnett crunches in her Edmonton office. This time, she's joining them by helicopter for hands-on sampling at historic sites, appreciating how they gauge snow variability, density, and how. Trees or terrain play into it. Leading these trips is Technologist Megwan, who hits remote spots set up in the 1970s, many over 40 or even 50 years old. They compare April 1st readings to the past 30 years, using basic tools to measure depth and weight at 10 spots per site.

1:02That weight skis to water equivalent, showing how much liquid we get if all this snow melted now, early season storms really built this base. Guan and her crew note it's a strong pack overall. Reservoirs are sitting pretty in normal ranges, a big step up from recent drought years, so Burnett's forecast looks solid heading into spring melt.