The river ice break up is expected to happen soon near the Town of Peace River. The Peace River ice front is currently about 28 km away from the Highway 2 bridge at the Town of Peace River. So far, the break up has been slow because of cold temperatures, but with the warmer weather this week, the ice front has accelerated to about 7 km a day. The current observation shows breakup in the Town of Peace River is expected between Thursday and Friday.
Although the snowpack in the Smoky River basin is much above average, water levels on the Little Smoky and Smoky rivers are holding steady as below seasonal air temperatures continue to delay the snowmelt runoff. The ice cover on the Smoky and Little Smoky rivers remain intact. Deterioration of the ice cover on these rivers has not yet impacted the ice conditions or water levels on the Peace River.
At this time, breakup of the Peace River is proceeding thermally. Water levels in the Town of Peace River are not expected to rise significantly as the river breaks up.
More information about Alberta’s rivers can be found here.
