Floodwaters pour into Abbotsford, B.C., from Washington's Nooksack River, 2021

Location: Nooksack River, WA, Sumas River, B.C., near Abbotsford.

Dates: 20211116 – 20221210.

Floodwaters delineated from satellite radar using a proprietary machine learning algorithm.

Atmospheric rivers dropped 150 mm rain in southern BC over two days in November 2021. In Washington state, the Nooksack River heads west to the Pacific Ocean. It burst its banks, the flows changed course and flooded north into the headwaters of the smaller Sumas River. The cross-border river flows passed into British Columbia and flooded the Abbotsford area and Sumas Prairie, November 16 – December 10, before draining into the Fraser River.

This animation shows the Nooksack/Sumas maximum flood extent and then the progression of flooding along the course of the Sumas River. The northern end of the Sumas Prairie nearest the Fraser River holds flood waters the longest. Some of the Sumas Prairie ponds smaller areas of flood water longer than the event itself, partly due to the draining of Sumas Lake years ago.

Athabasca River Ice Jam and Flooding at Fort McMurray, 2020

Location: Confluence of Athabasca River and the Clearwater Rivers at Fort McMurray, AB.

On 24 April, 2020 the Athabasca River and the Clearwater River at Fort McMurray, AB were filled with winter ice. By the 28th, during the spring melt, an ice jam about 22 km long formed in the shallow Athabasca Channel with numerous islands. The ice jam impeded downriver flows. This raised the levels of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers. The town flooded from the north, and then along the River front along the Clearwater from the north-east. The flooded Clearwater River also backed up flows into Saline Creek, found at the southern limit of town, which flooded the town from the southeast. 

In this image the ice jam on the flood water is shown as light blue. Open water is dark blue. The flooded areas, including islands in the Athabasca, streets in town, and the Clearwater River valley, are shown as orange. Mining is visible in the north.

About NGE

NGE delivers state of the art monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes on land, water, and ice faster, more accurately, and at costs lower than ever before. NGE is the global leader for providing actionable hazard information from satellite radar about freshwater ice. NGE is among the leading pack of international firms specializing in overland flooding.  We are small and so work well with leadership at the municipal or city level.

Harnessing an in-house near real-time hardware and software platform since 2023, NGE’s radar pipeline can pre-process and perform automated machine learning algorithms on satellite radar data in as little as 6 hours after overpass, day or night, in all weather conditions. Pushed to devices on the internet and cellular networks, clients can be assured actionable data that meets scientific rigor.

NGE Inc. is a Canadian company founded in 2017 that leverages data from radar satellites, drones, and has prowess in field validation. As a trusted partner to the private sector, remote First Nations, NGO’s, and government including the Canadian Space Agency and Agriculture Canada, NGE delivers intelligence that detects changes due to climate variability that resonate with sectors including ice travel and arctic defense, emergency response and recovery, insurance, indigenous communities, and biodiversity and forest restoration in agriculture.