HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

eported snowslides at Mile 14.3, 22.8, 34.5, 43.2, and 43.3. The rail line was closed for 12 hours. The line between
Prince Rupert-Terrace reopened on January 16. East of Terrace the steel bridge near Usk washed out and collapsed.
The timber and steel trestle at Mile 120.3, one mile (1.6 km) west of Usk, was severely damaged by an avalanche (J.
Mekechuck, pers. comm. 1989). *2) The passenger train was held at Smithers and the passengers were airlifted to
Prince Rupert.
In the Smithers area, power outages occurred when trees fell on the power line. On January 15, the area was
hit by a brief storm with strong gusts and a downpour of rain.
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*1) Digby Island near Prince Rupert recorded 28.8 in. (73.2 cm) of snow during January, the highest on record for
more than 20 years. In addition 9.06 in. (230.1 mm) of rain were recorded.
*2) In 1973, the structure was hit by another avalanche. The steel girder spans were pushed into the Skeena River and
could not be found. Twin large-diameter corrugated-metal pipes replaced it. (J. Mekechuck, pers. comm. 1989).
January 19-23, 1968
Event type: Flooding and snow avalanches.
Precipitation: Smithers (35.1 mm/2 days), January 19-20, 1968; Smithers A (27.4 mm/1 day), January 20, 1968; Falls
River (102.1 mm/2 days), January 20-21, 1968; Ocean Falls (359.3 mm/4 days), January 20-23, 1968; Kitimat 2 (89.7
mm/2 days), January 21-22, 1968; Kitimat Townsite (69.3 mm/1 day), January 22, 1968; Aiyansh (34.8 mm/1 day),
January 22, 1968; Kemano (59.9 mm/1 day), January 22, 1968; Kildala (68.8 mm/1 day), January 22, 1968; Bella
Coola (107.1 mm/2 days), January 22-23, 1968.
Source: The Daily News, January 23, 1968; The Interior News, January 23, 1968; Northern Sentinel, January 24, 1968;
Eero Karanka, pers. comm. February 21, 1994. Habitat Biologist, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Prince Rupert;
Church 1983 (pp. 169-180); Tempest 1974; Environment Canada 1991.
On January 20, Kitimat reported 21 in. (53.3 cm) of snow. Highway 16 was closed by a slide at Mile 51,
halfway between Prince Rupert-Terrace. A sharp rise in temperatures on January 22 caused minor flooding on
Highway 16 between Prince Rupert-Terrace. On January 23, the highway was reported in fair condition, with crews
standing by for possible flooding and washouts in several sections. Some power and telephone interruptions occurred.
A power failure occurred at the Zymoetz microwave site, 35 mi. (56 km) east of Terrace. Crews had difficulty
reaching the site because of snowdrifts and slides. Helicopters were grounded by freezing rain.
Heavy rain and warm temperatures caused a major flood on the Bella Coola River. It resulted from a frontal
rainstorm with unusually high freezing levels for January. The Port Hardy freezing level began to rise during the night
of January 18-19, culminating at over 3,400 m on the afternoon of January 22. A cumulative total of 186 cm of snow
had fallen at Bella Coola prior to the rainstorm. This would suggest a 50- to 80-cm snowpack on the valley bottom
(Karanka, pers. comm.).
From January 11-18, the stations of Bella Coola and Bella Coola Hydro recorded 5.44 and 7.17 in. (138.2
and 182.1 mm), respectively. Daily maximum temperatures rose to 40 o F (4.4 o C) and minimums above 32 o F (0 o C).
Between January 19-23, 6.20 and 9.32 in. (157.5 and 236.7 mm) of rain was recorded at the two stations, respectively.
The Bella Coola two-day rainfall did not have a significant return period, but the Bella Coola BC Hydro two-day
rainfall was the third highest in 25 years of record. Chinook conditions prevailed on the Chilcotin Plateau, possibly
including the Atnarko Basin (Karanka, pers. comm.). On January 23, temperatures rose to 48 o F (8.9 o C) and a
minimum of 37 o F (2.8 o C). The high temperatures probably raised the freezing level to the 5,000-ft. (1,500-m) level
in the lower part of the Bella Coola valley. *1) Emergency flood control measures for an expenditure of $250,000 were
carried out. On January 23, the Bella Coola River above Burnt Bridge Creek recorded a maximum instantaneous
discharge of 828 m 3 /s and a maximum daily discharge of 703 m 3 /s. Both values are extreme highs for the period of
record (Environment Canada 1991). Beginning around noon on January 22, the river rose 11 ft. (3.3 m) in just over a
day, peaking just before 6 p.m. on January 23. The river stayed high for about 12 hours and then began to fall at a rate
of 3 ft. (90 cm) per day until ice conditions set in on January 26 (Tempest 1974).
The Nusatsum River near Hagensborg recorded a maximum instantaneous discharge of 182 m 3 /s on January
22 and a maximum daily discharge of 86.9 m 3 /s on January 23. On January 23, the Salloompt River near Hagensborg
recorded a maximum instantaneous discharge of 142 m 3 /s and a maximum daily discharge of 118 m 3 /s. *2) It was the
second highest peakflow recorded on the Salloompt River. (The highest flow was on December 16, 1980, with a
peakflow 1.7 times higher than on January 23, 1968 (Karanka, pers. comm.). On January 24, the Bella Coola River
near Hagensborg recorded an estimated maximum daily discharge of 963 m 3 /s. This was an extreme high for the
period of record (Environment Canada 1991).
In the Bulkley Valley, a 14-in. (35.6 cm) snowfall caused a power outage on January 20. Warm
temperatures and rain followed the heavy snowfall on January 22. The 0.43 in. (10.9 mm) of rain combined with the
15.8 in. (40.1 cm) of snow brought the week’s total precipitation to 2.01 in. (51.1 mm).
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*1) As the greatest floods on the Bella Coola River generally occur in October and November, this flood was
apparently the first to have happened so late in the winter.
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