Latest News & Publications

2024 / 12 / 02
The NHG welcomes Erica Lee as its new Research Manager. Welcome to the team Erica!

2024 / 11 / 29
Stephen is delivering a presentation titled "Climate Change in the Nechako Watershed" at the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Workshop hosted by the Nechako Watershed Roundtable.

2024 / 11 / 11
The NHG is pleased to announce an opening for a PhD student in the group. Consult the following ad for full details on the position. The application deadline is Friday 6 December or until the position is filled.

2024 / 10 / 23
Sobral, B. S. and Déry, S. J., 2024: Water budget input linked to atmospheric rivers in British Columbia's Nechako River Basin, Hydrological Processes, 38(10), e15301. Full Document

2024 / 10 / 05
Stephen participated in the annual QRRC open house and BC SRIF project meeting in Likely, BC.

2024 / 09 / 17
We are pleased to provide an update on IRC recent research progress and summer field work in the September 2024 issue of the Nechako IRC Newsletter. Happy Equinox!

2024 / 08 / 08
The NHG is pleased to be part of a large team of UNBC, UBC, and DFO researchers that is exploring the impacts of climate change on salmon populations in the Quesnel Watershed. Please read details on this $5 million project from this media release from UNBC with thanks to the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund for supporting our efforts to better monitor meteorological conditions and project the future climate of the Quesnel Watershed.

2024 / 08 / 07
Stephen presented a talk titled "Climate change and water security research in the Nechako Watershed" to the President and CEO of BC Hydro, Chris O'Riley.

2024 / 07 / 10
Parkes, M. W., Déry, S. J., Owens, P. N., Petticrew, E. L., and Booth, B., 2024: Towards an integrative understanding of British Columbia's Nechako Watershed: Connecting knowledge systems to strengthen understanding of climate change, watershed security, health and well-being, PLOS Water, 3(7), e0000263. Full Document

2024 / 06 / 24-27
Stephen participated in the International Atmospheric Rivers Conference 2024 held in La Jolla, California. He presented results from Tamar based on data collected during TRARE in autumn of 2021.

2024 / 06 / 21
In a collaborative project with colleagues at UQAM, we are delighted to now provide in real-time the meteorological data collected at the MECHE Obsertavory stationed at UNBC's Northwest campus in Terrace, BC.

2024 / 06 / 18
The IRC team is pleased to share an update on its recent research progress and field work in the June 2024 issue of the Nechako IRC Newsletter. Warm wishes for a Happy Summer Solstice to all!

2024 / 06 / 12
Richards-Thomas, T. S., Déry, S. J., Stewart, R. E., and Thériault, J. M., 2024: Climatological Context of the Mid-November 2021 Floods in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, Weather and Climate Extremes, 45, 100705, doi: 10.1016/j.wace.2024.100705. Full Document.

2024 / 06 / 5
Bruno was awarded the 2024 CMOS Congress best student poster presentation titled: "Exploring the Climatology and Hydrological Response of Exceptional Atmospheric Rivers in British Columbia's Nechako River Basin." Congratulations Bruno!

2024 / 06 / 3-6
Bruno and Stephen (on behalf of Tamar) presented their latest findings on the role of atmospheric rivers in the Nechako Watershed's hydrology during the 2024 congress of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.

2024 / 05 / 29
Stephen was interviewed by Adam Berls of CKPG News to discuss the recent rainfalls and partial relief to the drought conditions across northern BC.

2024 / 05 / 19
Pokorny, S., Stadnyk, T. A., Ali, G., Tefs, A. A. G., and Déry, S. J., 2024: From threat to opportunity: Hydrologic uncertainty regionalization across large domains, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 53, 101819. Full Document

2024 / 05 / 09
Goswami, U. P., Déry, S. J., and Fortin, V., 2024: Performance evaluation of high-resolution reanalysis datasets over north-central British Columbia, Atmosphere-Ocean, 62(3), 222-242. DOI: 10.1080/07055900.2024.2308878. Full Document

2024 / 05 / 01
Déry, S. J., Martins, E. G., Owens, P. N., and Petticrew, E. L., 2024: Extreme hydrometeorological events induce abrupt and widespread freshwater temperature changes across the Pacific Northwest of North America, Communications Earth & Environment, 5, 228, doi: 10.1038/s43247-024-01407-6. Full Document. For more information on the field work that contributed to this study, please read our blog entry to Research Communities published by Springer Nature. Consult the UNBC media release for more information on our recent publication.

2024 / 04 / 29
The NHG is delighted to welcome Lynn Poeppelmann, Kainen Parmar and Maria Tavares as Undergraduate Research Assistants / Field Technicians for the upcoming summer field season. Welcome to the group Lynn, Kainen and Maria!

2024 / 04 / 12
Lisa and Stephen participated in the Northern Health and UNBC climate and health knowledge exchange workshop at UNBC. They presented a talk titled "Climate change projections in northern BC: Challenges and opportunities".

2024 / 04 / 10
Stephen was interviewed by Cheryl Jahn of CKPG News to comment on the BC River Forecast Centre's 1 April snow report and low snowpacks in northern BC.

2024 / 04 / 04
Stephen was interviewed by Tommy Osborne of CKPG News to discuss the early spring melt and start of the golf season in Prince George.

2024 / 03 / 27
During the upcoming Easter weekend, please take a few moments to read about our group's plans for summer field work and recent research findings in the March 2024 issue of the Nechkako IRC newsletter now available online.

2024 / 03 / 19
Stephen was interviewed by Betsy Trumpener of CBC Radio's Daybreak North to discuss the persistent drought in northern BC and the exceptionally low water levels in the Nechako River.

2024 / 03 / 12
Cardinal, E., Thériault, J. M., Stewart, R. E., Thompson, H. D., and Déry, S. J., 2024: Climatology of and factors contributing to occurrences of near-0°C temperatures and associated precipitation at and near Terrace, British Columbia, Canada, Atmosphere-Ocean, 62(2), 145-164, DOI: 10.1080/07055900.2023.2270560. Full Document.

2024 / 03 / 06
The NHG's contribution to the Storms and Precipitation Across the continental Divide Experiment (SPADE) is profiled in the March issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS). Thanks to our partners at UQAM, U. Manitoba and U. Sask for ensuring the success of the SPADE field campaign now featured on the cover of the March issue of BAMS!

2024 / 03 / 06
Stephen participated in a meeting of the Technical Working Group for the Water Engagement Initiative

2024 / 02 / 01
The NHG is pleased to welcome Mostafa Khorsandi as a Research Associate for the IRC program of research. Welcome to the group Mostafa!

2024 / 01 / 29
Stephen was interviewed by Dave Branco of CKPG News to discuss the warm temperatures and rapid snowmelt in northern BC.

2024 / 01 / 23
Onwukwe, C., Jackson, P. L., Islam, S. U., Déry, S. J., Menounos, B., Marini, K., and Tilson, M., 2024: Climatic effect of the Williston Reservoir on Tsay Keh Dene Nation Territory of northern British Columbia, Climatic Change, 177, 23. Full Document

2024 / 01 / 08
Stephen was interviewed by Dave Branco of CKPG News to discuss the impacts of the ongoing drought in northern BC on groundwater levels.

2023 / 12 / 19
Thompson, H.D., Thériault, J. M., Déry, S. J., Stewart, R. E., Boisvert, D., Rickard, L., Leroux, N. R., Colli, M. and Vionnet, V., 2023: Atmospheric and surface observations during the Saint John River Experiment on Cold Season Storms, Earth System Science Data, 15(12), 5785-5806. Full Document

2023 / 12 / 18
During the upcoming holidays, please take a few moments to read about our group's fall field activies and recent research findings in the Winter 2024 issue of the Nechkako IRC newsletter now available online. The Northern Hydrometeorology Group wishes everyone Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings!!

2023 / 12 / 07
Stephen was interviewed by Cheryl Jahn of CKPG News to discuss the persistent drought across northern BC and UNBC ranking in the top 50 research universities in Canada.

2023 / 11 / 06
Stephen participated in the online Main Table meeting of the Water Engagement Initiative.

2023 / 12 / 01
Stephen was interviewed by Ian Gregg of CFURadio 88.7 FM to discuss the persistent drought across northern BC. Read and hear details of their conversation at Canada Info.

2023 / 11 / 21-22
Stephen met with research colleagues at Rio Tinto in Saguenay, Quebec.

2023 / 11 / 14
Stephen was interviewed by Adam Berls of CKPG News to discuss the persistent drought across northern BC.

2023 / 11 / 07
Stephen participated in the Main Table meeting of the Water Engagement Initiative in Vanderhoof.

2023 / 11 / 06
Bruno and Stephen participated in and presented at the fall meeting of the Nechako Watershed Roundtable in Vanderhoof.

2023 / 11 / 01
The NHG is pleased to announce we have an opening for a new post-doctoral fellow starting on 1 April 2024 at UNBC. Please consult the following ad for details on the position and how to apply.

2023 / 10 / 05
Stephen was interviewed by Cheryl Jahn of CKPG News to discuss the continuing drought across northern BC.

2023 / 10 / 02
Lisa Rickard rejoins the NHG as a part-time Research Skills Trainee - welcome back Lisa!

2023 / 09 / 30
Stephen participated in the QRRC annual open house in Likely, BC.

2023 / 09 / 27
Read all about our summer field season and recent research findings in the Fall 2023 issue of the Nechkako IRC newsletter now available online.

2023 / 09 / 27
Stephen presented his team's research on climate change and water security in the Nechako Watershed to representatives from the German Research Foundation who were visiting the UNBC campus today.

2023 / 09 / 01
Sobral, B. S. and Déry, S. J., 2023: Spatiotemporal distribution and trend analysis of atmospheric rivers affecting British Columbia's Nechako Watershed, International Journal of Climatology, 43(14), 6720-6732, doi: 10.1002/joc.8230. Full Document

2023 / 09 / 01
The NHG welcomes Meng Wang and Devin Wittig as new MSc students this fall. Welcome to both of you!

2023 / 08 / 31
UNBC's Integrated Watershed Research Group (Drs. Stephen Déry, Eduardo Martins, Phil Owens and Margot Parkes) announced research funding from the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund and from other sources as matching funds. This will support a third phase of integrated watershed research in the Nechako Watershed focusing on the climate crisis as a cross-cutting driver of watershed change.

2023 / 08 / 14
The NHG welcomes Bruno Sobral as its new Research Manager in a joint position with the IWRG.

2023 / 07 / 25
Stephen was interviewed by Caden Fanshaw of CKPG Today to discuss sediment loads and the different coloration of the Nechako and Fraser rivers.

2023 / 07 / 24
The NHG fully embraces, fosters and celebrates diversity in the composition of its team. Consult our equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) statement and philosophy on our research and team webpage.

2023 / 06 / 30
Stephen was interviewed by Cheryl Jahn of CKPG News to discuss the emerging drought across northern BC.

2023 / 06 / 28
The summer 2023 issue of the Nechkako IRC newsletter is now available online.

2023 / 06 / 27
Stephen was interviewed by Jack Clark of CKPG News to discuss the persistent warm, dry spell that continues to affect northern BC.

2023 / 06 / 23
The NHG is pleased to announce the creation of a new website describing the "Monitoring Extreme Climate and Hydrometeorological Events (MECHE) observatory and associated projects.

2023 / 06 / 15
Ahmed, M. I., Stadnyk, T., Pietroniro, A., Owoye, H., Bajracharya, A., Mai, J., Tolson, B., Shen, H., Craig, J. Gervais, M., Sagan, K., Wruth, S., Koenig, K., Lilhare, R., Déry, S. J., Pokorny, S., Venema, H., Muhammad, A., Hallborg, C., and Taheri, M., 2023: Learning From Hydrological Models' Challenges: A Case Study from the Nelson Basin Intercomparison Project, Journal of Hydrology, 623, 129820. Full Document

2023 / 06 / 06
Stephen was interviewed by Jack Clark of CKPG News to discuss the current warm, dry spell predicted in northern BC for the next week.

2023 / 05 / 31
Justin and Stephen participated in the Koh Learning event at Stellat'en First Nation.

2023 / 05 / 26
The NHG congratulates all UNBC students graduating today! Special congratulations to six recent / current NHG who are being conferred their degrees today: Selina Mitchell (MSc), Lisa Rickard (MSc), Spencer Woyke (BSc), Laura-Anne Browning (BSc), Jade Reynolds (BSc) and Dylan Broeke (BSc). Well done!

2023 / 05 / 7-11
Bruno and Stephen presented their latest findings on the role of atmospheric rivers in the Nechako Watershed's hydrology and on the impact of extreme events on water temperatures, respectively, during the 2023 annual meeting of the Canadian Geophysical Union in Banff, Alberta.

2023 / 04 / 21
Martins, E. G., Déry, S. J., and D. A. Patterson, 2023: Chapter 15: Fraser River Basin, In DeLong, M. (Ed.), Rivers of North America, Elsevier, pp. 650-674

2023 / 04 / 19
Spencer presented his undergraduate thesis entitled "Multi-site analysis of peak storm events at Tahtsa Ranges using MRR and disdrometer data". Congratulations Spencer on successfully completing your undergraduate thesis and course!

2023 / 04 / 11
Stephen was interviewed by Cheryl Jahn of CKPG News to discuss the exceptionally low water levels in northern BC rivers. Read and hear more here about their conversation and potential implications to this summer's water levels.

2023 / 04 / 04
The spring 2023 issue of the Nechkako IRC newsletter is now available online.

2023 / 03 / 31
Lisa successfully defended her MSc thesis entitled "Comparison of recent major spring flood events in the Saint John River Basin". Congratulations Lisa!

2023 / 03 / 28
Thompson, H.D., Thériault, J. M., Déry, S. J., Stewart, R. E., Boisvert, D., Rickard, L. , Leroux, N. R., Colli, M. and Vionnet, V., 2023: Atmospheric and surface observations during the Saint John River Experiment on Cold Season Storms, submitted to Earth System Science Data Discussions. Full Document

2023 / 03 / 01
Members of the IRC team (Kirsten, Justin, Jade, Tamar, Bruno, and Jingwen) along with Stephen and other members of UNBC's Integrated Watershed Research Group participated in a public presentation titled "An Evening on the Nechako: A virtual update and interactive discussion with UNBC's Integrated Watershed Research Group."

2023 / 02 / 16
Stephen presented a talk entitled "Nechako Watershed stream temperature monitoring and research, 2019-2023" as part of the Climate Science Informal Seminars at UNBC sponsored by CMOS and PICS.

2023 / 01 / 10
Stephen was interviewed by Hiren Mansukhani of the PG Post to discuss the recent dry weather in northern BC including the fifth driest year on record in Prince George. Read the story here.

2023 / 01 / 01
The Nothern Hydrometeorology Group wishes everyone a very Happy New Year! All the best in 2023!

2022 / 12 / 19
The December 2022 IRC quarterly newsletter (Volume 4, Issue 4) is now available here. The NSERC/Rio Tinto IRC team and all of the NHG wish everyone safe and Happy Holidays!

2022 / 11 / 18
Jingwen and Stephen are part of a team with Associated Engineering that will undertake flood plain mapping over the next year for the lower Nechako and upper Fraser rivers thanks to support from the Fraser Basin Council.

2022 / 11 / 10
Stephen provided his insights on recent climate change and impacts to the Nechako Watershed for this The Tyee article titled "How the Kenney Dam broke the Nechako River".

2022 / 11 / 03
Selina successfully defended her MSc thesis titled "Precipitation Gradients Across the Continental Divide in the Southern Canadian Rockies". Congratulations Selina!

2022 / 10 / 27
Lilhare, R., Déry, S. J., Stadnyk, T. A., Pokorny, S., and Koenig, K. A., 2022: Warming soil temperature and increasing baseflow in response to recent and potential future climate change across northern Manitoba, Canada, Hydrological Processes, 36(11), e14748, doi: 10.1002/hyp.14748. Full Document

2022 / 10 / 27
Justin and Stephen participated in the fall meeting of the Nechako Watershed Roundtable.

2022 / 10 / 13
Numerical modelling forms an important part of the IRC's program of research and TRARE is providing critical data to validate simulations as you can hear from this Youtube video captured during the TRARE field campaign in October 2021.

2022 / 09 / 20
Read here a UNBC story on the official announcement of provincial funding from the BC Knowledge Development Fund along with the Canada Foundation for Innovation that will support the creation of the MECHE observatory.

2022 / 09 / 15
The September 2022 IRC quarterly newsletter is now available here

2022 / 09 / 14
Thériault, J. M., Leroux, N. R., Stewart, R. E., Bertoncini, A., Déry, S. J., Pomeroy, J. W., Thompson, H. D., Smith, H. M., Mariani, Z., Desroches-Lapointe, A., Mitchell, S., and Almonte, J., 2022: The Storms and Precipitation Across the continental Divide Experiment (SPADE), Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103(11), E2628-E2649. Full Document

2022 / 09 / 03
The NHG is pleased to announce we have two openings for M.Sc. students starting in the Summer or Fall 2023 semesters at UNBC. Please consult the following ad for details on the positions and how to apply.

2022 / 08 / 12
Find out more details on last fall's TRARE field experiment in this YouTube video.

2022 / 07 / 20
Learn more on the state-of-the-art meteorological equipment that was deployed during the TRARE field campaign and how this is leading to a better understanding of the atmospheric river phenonmenon in this YouTube video.

2022 / 07 / 12
Listen to Kelly and Stephen describe last autumn's TRARE field campaign in this YouTube video.

2022 / 06 / 27
Gilbert, D. E., Morris, J. E., Kaveney, A. R., Déry, S. J., 2022: Sub-hourly water temperature data collected across the Nechako Watershed, 2019-2021, Data in Brief, 43, 108425. Full Document

2022 / 06 / 21
The June IRC quarterly newsletter is now available here.

2022 / 06 / 08
Stephen presented a talk entitled "Atmospheric rivers and their role in floods in British Columbia" to the Real Estate Foundation of BC and the BC Northern Real Estate Board.

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Introduction

Welcome to the homepage of the northern hydrometeorology group (NHG) at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.

The NHG investigates the role of climate variability and climate change on the high-latitude and alpine water cycle. The research group is led by Stephen Déry, a tenured, full professor in the Environmental Science Program in UNBC's Department of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, as well as a member of UNBC's Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi). Details on the NHG's research including projects, funding sources, and members are found here.

A recent curriculum vitae and biography for Stephen are available online.