With little snowfall over the past two weeks and the recent rain event, today’s measured snowpack continues to be below normal for this time of year reports the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) who measures snow depth and water content as part of its Flood Forecasting and Warning Program. The snowpack has decreased by 3.5 cm and the snow water equivalent increased by 5.0 mm since the previous snow survey on February 15, 2024.
“The combined average snow depth is 17.2 cm (well below normal) and water equivalence is 61.0 mm (below normal) at the three snow course locations”, said Angela Mills, NBMCA Water Resources Specialist. “Corbeil has the second lowest recorded snow depth, the lowest recorded was 0 cm in 2000, the North Bay Golf and Country Club is the lowest recorded since moving location in 2012 and Shirley Skinner has a record low”, she added.
NBMCA has changed the way snow survey measurements are compared to historical conditions. With day-to-day differences in snowpack conditions, these changes include reporting a range of normal values that would be expected in most years and communicating a comparison of current measurements relative to these normal conditions. A new Snow Survey web page is available with more snow survey program information and this season's measurements. https://nbmca.ca/watershed-management/snow-survey/
Snow is measured for depth and water equivalence at three locations in the watershed.
North Bay Golf and Country Club (Chippewa Creek Watershed, North Bay)
*Data prior to Dec. 2011 collected at the former Northeast Mental Health Centre, Hwy 11
|
Current Snow Depth for March 1, 2024 |
22.4 cm (below historic minimum) |
|
Water Equivalence for March 1, 2024 |
89.0 mm (below normal) |
|
Snow Depth last year for March 1, 2023 |
63.2 cm |
|
Normal Snow Depth |
36.6 cm to 63.8 cm |
|
Highest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 2012* Lowest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 2012* |
84.1 cm in 2019 49.3 cm in 2018 |
Corbeil Conservation Area (La Vase River Watershed, Corbeil)
|
Current Snow Depth for March 1, 2024 |
14.4 cm (well below normal) |
|
Current Water Equivalence for March 1, 2024 |
49.0 mm (well below normal) |
|
Snow Depth last year for March 1, 2023 |
63.6 cm |
|
Normal Snow Depth |
41.5 cm to 64.0 cm |
|
Highest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 1988 Lowest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 1988 |
98.6 cm in 1997 0 cm in 2000 |
Shirley Skinner Conservation Area (Kaibuskong River Watershed, Chisholm)
|
Current Snow Depth for March 1, 2024 |
14.7 cm (below historic minimum) |
|
Current Water Equivalence for March 1, 2024 |
45.0 mm (below historic minimum) |
|
Snow Depth last year for March 1, 2023 |
61.1 cm |
|
Normal Snow Depth |
49.6 cm to 61.1 cm |
|
Highest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 2007 Lowest recorded snow depth for March 1 since 2007 |
83.9 cm in 2019 31.9 cm in 2018 |
The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) was founded in 1972 by the Province of Ontario. NBMCA is one of 36 Conservation Authorities in Ontario responsible for watershed management on behalf of local municipalities, stakeholders, and the province.
The public can follow NBMCA on the web at nbmca.ca, on X (Twitter) (@theNBMCA), Facebook (@theNBMCA) and Instagram (nbmcainfo).
For more information, contact:
Angela Mills, Water Resources Specialist (705) 497-4668
David Ellingwood, Director, Water Resources (705) 474-5420