2022 Flood Preparedness – Information Provided by The City of Calgary
This spring, we’re seeing high snowpack up in the mountains. The
long-term forecast from Environment and Climate Change Canada shows
below average spring temperatures and average to below average
precipitation heading into summer.
While a melting snowpack will increase river flows, it alone does not cause river flooding in Calgary. Heavy, multi-day rainfalls upstream of the city are the main cause of river flooding and can account for 80 per cent or more of the river flow during a flood.
These large rainfalls typically happen from mid-May to mid-July and can be challenging to predict in the mountain areas where we may only have 24 hours or less to confirm what’s coming. That’s why it’s important Calgarians are ready for flooding anytime during the season, possibly on short notice.
There’s lots of great resources on calgary.ca/floodinfo to help residents understand their flood risk with our online interactive maps, what steps they can take to be prepared for flooding and links to useful resources to help them stay informed throughout the season.
We also have a river conditions dial on the website, which provides Calgarians with a quick snapshot of the daily river conditions during high river flow season (May 15- July 15).
Every flood season we send out a weekly e-newsletter to share current river conditions, along with information on flood mitigation projects and tips so residents are well informed throughout the season. We’ll be resuming our flood season e-newsletter in May. Please help us spread the word and share this link with your community to subscribe for the flood e-newsletter as one way to stay up to date.