Editor’s note: According to the provincial government’s March 8 Snow Conditions and Water Supply Bulletin, Vancouver Island has only 46% of its normal snowpack. Across the Salish Sea in the South Coast Basin, the snowpack is at 40%. While this does not sound good for Cortes and other Discovery Islands, which are just on the Vancouver Island side of these two areas, the following article states that Spring rains could make a big difference in what our summer looks like.  

By Abigail Popple, The Rocky Mountain Goat, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Despite the low snowpack that B.C. has seen this winter, it’s still too early in the year to determine whether drought will make the coming fire season more intense, experts say.

The Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship released its monthly Snow Survey and Water Supply Bulletin on Friday. While storms during the last week of February brought the heaviest snowfall B.C. has seen this season, snowpack in the Upper Fraser East region – which encompasses the Robson Valley area – fell from 61 per cent of normal to 52 per cent of normal.

Continue reading Precipitation could still alter wildfire season severity: gov →