The snow may have been deep enough to open Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler on Thursday, but warm weather also led to flooding conditions in the valley below.
Images from Whistler show parts of the municipality’s Valley Trail system near Meadow Park flooded with water amid high temperatures that saw as much as 50 millimetres of rain fall there in the last 48 hours, though it has since dried up.
Coverage of Whistler on Globalnews.ca:
The conditions have meant that watersheds such as the River of Golden Dreams, Crabapple Creek and Van West Creek are running high, according to the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW).
Pictures from near the River of Golden Dreams show flooding on the Valley Trail, a paved network that runs all through the municipality.
Reports from he scene said a picnic area where people watch kayakers on the river in the sunnier months is completely underwater, with the tables themselves covered up about halfway.
The parking lot at the Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church was also flooded — but that’s a common occurrence when it rains, the municipality said.
A statement from the RMOW said Highway 99 between Whistler and Pemberton was closed around 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning amid flooding near near a steep area known as Suicide Hill, but that the RCMP reopened it quickly.
Road crews will continue to monitor areas of concern until water has dried up, said the RMOW.
The flooding came amid temperatures that reached as high as 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
Colder conditions are expected in the coming days, with a high of three degrees projected on Friday and a high of four on Saturday.
READ MORE: Massive snowfall in Whistler topples trees, creates chaos on roads
A morning weather report from Whistler Blackcomb said the mountains had received 88 centimetres of new snow in the past seven days, but none in the past 24 hours.
The ski hills have a snow base of 119 centimetres.
Comments