Conditions in B.C. are generally dry right now, and rivers and the snowpack are relatively low. It's too soon to say what this will look like in terms of floods, fires, droughts and extreme rain or heat this summer, but forecasters are saying that climate change makes what used to be more predictable, unreliable.

Emergency management officials with the B.C. government gave an update yesterday to the media about their forecasts based on current conditions.

One thing that Bowinn Ma, the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, does know, is that more weather related disasters are inevitable.

"We are seeing extreme weather events occur more frequently with greater impacts, and in fact in recent years what we're seeing is the time between these events is decreasing," she said.

Merritt, for example, in the summer of 2021 was on alert for evacuation for forest fires, and in November extremely heavy rain caused the Coldwater River to change its course and run down a street. The town was evacuated because its wastewater treatment plant flooded and failed.

It's supposed to be a cooler and wetter than average early spring, similar to last year. May, June and July are projected to be warmer than last year, according to Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Dave Campbell with the River Forecast Centre says snowpack is lower than average but not unprecedently lower.

Revelstoke is nestled on a line between 80 to 100 per cent of normal snowpack levels compared to average, and the Upper Columbia snow basin is 81 per cent of average.

Some basins like the Fraser River at Hope, the Nicola, Okanagan, Boundary, Upper Fraser West, Lower Thompson, Chilcotin and Quesnel are above 100 per cent of average. These areas stand a greater risk of flooding, especially if there is a prolonged warm period followed by heavy rain.

March was extremely dry. Weather stations in Vernon, Kamloops, Prince Rupert and Penticton recorded the lowest precipitation in station histories.

There have been 11 forest fires since April 1. Two were human caused, the rest are under investigation.

B.C. Wildfire Services teamed with the Skuppah First Nation southwest of Lytton to do a prescribed burn.

"This fire is showing some behaviour that is a little aggressive for this early in the season," said Matt MacDonald, the lead fire weather forecaster for B.C. Wildfire Services.

Stumps are burning quickly right down into the soil, which is very dry," he said.

October was a warm, pleasant month, MacDonald said, four to ten degrees above normal, each and every day.

"We saw very little rain in what usually is a very wet month, he said.

A cold snap after that meant the ground froze so the ground couldn't absorb any moisture when it finally snowed.

Despite this drought, MacDonald says he can't predict what the fire season will be like. April, May and June are typically the rainiest months in B.C. and it will depend on how much falls.

The provincial government has put more money than ever into B.C. Wildfire Services, said Cliff Chapman, the director of its provincial operations. The service now operates year round instead of just in fire season, and focuses on mitigation and preparedness.

They move crews and equipment around to areas that show the highest risk of fire—they hired 113 full time, permanent staff in the last year, and there are 2000 B.C. Wildfire Service personnel on the ground, and 700 contractors.

Chapman says they're organized and ready for the fire season, and to help with flooding if need be. But he says if it's a bad fire season like we saw in 2017, 2018 or 2021, firefighters are at the whim of the elements.

"Whether we have 2000 or 20,000 resources we're still going to be challenged in this province." He said.

Minister Ma said that incidents of extreme heat will become common. The province has given local authorities money to open cooling centres during the heat.

Forecasters and the ministers reiterated that people have a responsibility to be aware of the conditions in their area, to fire smart around their property, and to be prepared in case of an emergency by having a go-bag packed. B.C. can send out emergency alerts on cell phones, B.C. Wildfire Services has an app where people can check the status of fires, and report them.

Ma listed off websites people can check to see what they can do to prepare for emergencies. They're www.preparebc.ca, www.firesmartbc.ca, and www.emergencyinfobc.ca.

Click below for a radio report: