|Wanderung| Newsletter - snow level ZZ

Snow levels
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As we get into the main summer hiking season, we all want to see the snow levels
creep up the mountain. However, it looks like this year could be another dry one
as the average snowpack level across BC is already only half of its normal
value:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/br ... wpack-may-1.3578112

In the Lower Mainland it looks like the snowpack is at about 75% of normal (and
much closer to normal than last year!), but our warm, dry spring has meant that
it's melting more quickly than usual.

A dry summer likely means a busy forest fire season, much like last year. That
means taking extreme precautions when burning anything - and if in doubt, just
don't!

There is a handy tool for checking on the current snow depth in BC that Chris N.
posted in the Facebook group a few weeks back:

http://bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/data/asp/realtime/index.htm

It looks a bit intimidating at first, but all you have to do is zoom in on the
map to find a snow station in the area you're interested in, click on the
marker, and then click on "More info - data and graph" to open a new page with a
graph showing the current snow depth. The graph shows how the depth of the snow
pack has changed over the past few months, along with comparisons of the average
and last year, as well as the minimum/maximum depths.

As hikers, though, we simply want to know *where* the snow is, so how about you
tell us? Any time you're out hiking, let us know the trail conditions - mud,
snow, washouts, bridges etc. Your fellow hikers will thank you!