Flood watches lifted; sunny days ahead

Click on chart for larger image

Flood watches lifted;sunny days ahead

Rainfall levels a lot less than expected

"About half of the mountain's snow pack has melted, ... with the remaining melt expected to come at a controlled pace until mid-July."

Eva Ferguson,

Calgary Herald

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Southern Albertans can enjoy a welcome respite from flood worries over the next week as weather forecasters are calling for warm temperatures and clear, sunny skies.

River levels in and around Calgary stabilized Wednesday, with city water services confirming the Elbow River has peaked and is on its way down.

Most of the city pathways that were closed because of flooding are expected to reopen over the next two days.

Even though the weather will get warmer, Environment Canada says temperatures in the mountains are still cool enough that melting from this winter's record snowfall won't be too rapid.

"With temperatures in the mid20s, we will only see temperatures in the teens in the mountains," said meteorologist Brian Stifora, explaining that won't be enough for a fast melt.

"We're finally getting that upper ridge that's going to stabilize our weather for a while."

Click directly on chart for larger image

The decrease in flooding worries is, in part, the result of less precipitation than expected.

"We actually got a lot less rain than we thought," Calgary water services engineer Twyla Hutchison said. "We'll be keeping the reservoir low for some snow melt, but we won't see too much of that."

Alberta Environment has lifted all flood watch advisories in the southern parts of the province, including the Highwood River in High River and the Sheep River in Okotoks, where residents spent much of the night under pelting rain and watching water levels closely.

Neither town, however, received as much rain as anticipated.

Residents in Okotoks got through the night with no evacuations and no basement flooding reported, said town spokeswoman Nancy Weigel. "We're just looking at sunshine now and I think we deserve it."

And in High River, an Emergency Operations Centre that opened through the night to monitor the level of the Highwood River shut its doors early Wednesday after Alberta Environment lifted a rainfall warning for the town.

"Current river levels are still within safe limits in the town, however, personnel are monitoring it closely and crews will be ready to respond immediately should the situation change," said Len Zebedee, deputy director of emergency management.

High river flow advisories are still in effect along the Bow River near Cochrane, while advisories have been lifted for the Elbow River.

"These are peaking, or are very soon to peak, so if we don't get any rain for a while, they will continue to drop," said Carrie Sancartier, a spokeswoman for Alberta Sustainable Resources.

With the Weather Network's 14-day trend showing little or no precipitation, Hutchison said she hopes that if the rain can stay away until mid-July, the city will have passed the flood risk period.

About half of the mountain's snow pack has melted, she said, with the remaining melt expected to come at a controlled pace until mid-July.

LINK: Calgary Herald