If it feels like there’s more snow than usual this winter, it may simply be due to the sharp contrast to last year’s near record low.
The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority says average snow depth and water equivalence in the snow continue to be in the normal range for this time of the year.
“The combined average snow depth is 55.7 cm and water equivalence is 116.3 mm at the three snow course locations”, said Angela Mills, NBMCA Water Resources Specialist. “This is within range of normal for early to mid-March, in contrast to last year’s near record low for the same period.”
The conservation authority says even with the varying weather conditions, including rain, warmer temperatures, followed by snow, the snowpack has increased by 6.9 cm while snow water equivalence is down by 21.3 mm since the previous snow survey on Feb. 28.
Last year at this time, there was 3.5 cm of snow depth in North Bay with less than 2 cm recorded in both Chisholm and Corbeil.
