With flood season pretty much already here in the Foothills the annual tradition of looking to the mountains in the West and trying to determine the snow pack levels has begun.

Casual observers will notice the river has coloured up and risen a small amount, but High River's Director of Emergency Management Carly Benson says they're nothing to worry about at this moment.

"So, even with all the rain and precipitation that fell over the weekend, we only saw a rise of about 0.4 metres, in the river, and it's still below average for this time of year. So we're still dealing with relatively low river rates right now.

The mountain snow pack is below average right now, but Benson says while that can play a part in any potential flooding, the real danger is large amounts of rain.

"We'd hate people to get a false sense of security by looking at the mountains and saying 'well, there's no snow there, so there's no flood risk.' We really just want to keep reinforcing that message that for our particular area flooding is much more related to how much rain comes from the sky over what period of time."

For the latest snow pack and river forecasting data, click "HERE."