Thompson River
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 50° 40.771 W 120° 20.326
10U E 688007 N 5617565
The North and South Thompson Rivers meet within the city of Kamloops, BC, forming the Thompson River, then flow west to meet with the Fraser River, which empties into the Pacific at Vancouver, BC.
Waymark Code: WMMA6H
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/20/2014
Views: 1
The South Thompson, though only 55 km. long, is a large river as it originates at Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase, which is fed by many mountain streams to the north and east, draining a fairly large area of 18,000 square kilometres. Its average flow is about 292 cubic metres per second, while its maximum flow is around 1,610 cubic metres per second.
The North Thompson drains a somewhat larger area than the South Thompson, having an average flow of about 427 cubic metres per second, while its maximum flow is around 2,740 cubic metres per second. Together, as the Thompson River, they become the largest tributary of the Fraser River.
The best, and easiest, view of the river is at the confluence of the North and South, from the beach at Riverside Park on the south side of the river, which is almost directly opposite the confluence.
Click on the large panorama below and pan from the left, looking west at the Overlander Bridge to the east, looking at the CPR bridge. The South Thompson emerges from under the CPR Bridge, merging with the North Thompson in the centre, looking north, forming the Thompson River, to the west (left).