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Snow levels rising

'Two weeks ago we were 20% below the long-term average for the first of March. Now, snow depth and water content are within 25% of the long-term average at all three snow courses for this time of year'
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Photo submitted.

The recent snowfall earlier in the week has bumped up the average snow depth about 8cm and increased water content about 11mm according to the snowpack measurements taken on March 15 by the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority as part of its flood forecasting program.

“Two weeks ago we were 20% below the long-term average for the first of March. Now, snow depth and water content are within 25% of the long-term average at all three snow courses for this time of year,” said Joel Harrison, Water Resources Specialist at NBMCA.

The average depth for the three sites is 47.1 cm, up 7.9 cm since the March 1, 2018 snow survey.

The average snow depth in 2017 at this time of year was 42.1 cm. Average snow water equivalence of 9.4 cm is up 3.4 cm. The average water equivalence at this time of year last year was 12.8 cm.