Hi Mephisto,
We are having a pogonip week. :) (I just sent Pat some pictures.) And a "winter's worth of snow"
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Sierra has winter’s worth of snow
Jeff DeLong RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
2/2/2005 12:00 am
David B. Parker/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Experts measured the mountain snowpack Tuesday and found only good news.
Scientists hiked to a snow survey site near Mount Rose Summit as they wrapped up a week of measuring the depth and water content of snow within the Lake Tahoe Basin and the Truckee, Carson and Walker river basins.
Their conclusion — recent heavy storms have left the snowpack well above average and close to where it normally is on April 1, considered the end of winter.
“These are great numbers. These are fantastic numbers, in fact,” said Dan Greenlee, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.
On Tuesday, the compacted snow measured at the survey site at Mount Rose-Ski Tahoe ski resort was about 9 feet deep and 128 percent of normal for the date. The Truckee River Basin snowpack was 149 percent of normal, while the Lake Tahoe Basin snowpack was 156 percent.
Farther south, the news is even better. The Carson River Basin snowpack was 164 percent and the Walker River Basin was 182 percent.
The Truckee, Tahoe and Carson basin snowpacks were 87 to 95 percent of where they would normally be on April 1. The Walker River Basin was already at 103 percent.
“Basically we’ve got a full winter’s snow up there right now and we’ve got another two months of winter,” Greenlee said.
Portions of the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range had nearly double the typical snowfall for this time of year; farther north was above average.
“The Southern California mountains are doing a lot better than they have in six or seven years,” said Don Strickland, a spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources. “All of this water we had, which caused flooding in Southern California, helped fill a lot of reservoirs.”
The numbers in Northern Nevada are encouraging as the region looks to hopefully recover from five years of drought, Greenlee said.
They also don’t guarantee a thing.
Following heavy December snowfall last winter, the Sierra snowpack was about 150 percent of normal on Jan. 1, 2004. By Feb. 1, the snowpack had dropped to only a little more than normal amounts in a trend that would reduce it to between roughly 80 percent by April 1. A warmer-than-normal spring then quickly melted what was left.
A similar pattern was experienced in 2003 after December storms produced a Jan. 1 snowpack at 167 percent or more of normal. January, February and March 2003 were dry, followed by a snowy April that still left the region in drought.
“We’re looking good now. We just need to keep it coming,” said Ed Blake, Greenlee’s colleague in Tuesday’s snow survey.
“We’ve got a ways to go to overcome the deficit,” Greenlee agreed. “It takes a few years to get out of a drought situation.”
Dry and foggy weather is predicted for the rest of the week, with the next opportunity for rain and mountain snow expected Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
rgj.com
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