Thompson River in Kamloops could rise a metre or two by this weekend

Heavy rains expected over the next few days could push the level of the Thompson River to 1972 historic levels so a flood watch has been issued for the North and South Thompson rivers.

That watch will likely be raised to a warning if all the rain that’s forecast does come down, Dave Campbell, head of the River Forecast Centre told a reporters at a media briefing today, June 30. As well, Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for the South Thompson and Shuswap. Roughly 20 to 40 mm of rain may fall between today and Thursday, with the higher rainfall amounts expected over the mountains.

“The biggest response we’re expecting is on the North Thompson side,” he said. “We could see another surge as we come into the weekend.”

Low-lying areas around the Overlanders Bridge and Riverside Park are most at risk, he said, adding that there’s an obelisk in the park that shows where the 1972 levels were.

“To put that in perspective, that’s a pretty big jump,” Campbell said. “We saw about a metre of rise over the last week to 10 days.

The briefing also warned of rising levels in the Fraser River system.

The “bullseye” of the rainfall will be north of Kamloops, through Clearwater and Blue River up to the Robson Valley. It will also hit the Fraser River hard with flood warnings issued for parts of the Fraser, Quesnel and Chilcotin rivers.

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