2017/2018 Snow Pack - or not

I think by christmas the mountains here in the front range will have gotten around 3 feet of snow in the first few days of winter if they aren't hyping this weekend's forecast.
 
I was in Aspen Thursday, bare grass.
 
Cool. Now there's snow!
 
We got dumped with snow over the Christmas break, hopefully everyone else got some of it, too. Most of the basins in our immediate area are now at or slightly above 100%. I'm hoping to confirm those conditions with a ski tour this weekend... :)
 
  • Now the latest stats for various drainages in NW Wyoming show that we are doing pretty good this winter. lately we have been getting some more snow up high. Yea! here are some of the stats for everyone, the general snowpack recorded for various drainages ...
Snake River .... 122%
Yellowstone ... 153%
Wind River .... 144%
Shoshone River ... 154%
Bighorn basin ... 127%
Madison -Gallatin ... 106%
 
The town of Moab got 9"-11" about a week ago. Same amount fell on bare ground at 11000' in the La Sals.
 
Nick said:
Not looking good...

Click to expand...
You got that right. Upside is it it looking like we will be up high in the mountains way early again this year.

I always tracked exactly how much snow I receive here near 7K' in the Wasatch. As long as I had to shovel every inch I might as well right it down. We averaged 225"/year of snow for most of the 90's. Well it dropped off so dramatically that the exercise got boring and I quit 5-10 years ago.

A friend convinced me that I should start back up to chronicle the change at my specific point on the planet and how it affects my most precious ecosystem.

I have 41" this year at roughly the midpoint of the winter snow season. The exercise, instead of being boring, turns out now to be depressing and infuriating both.
 
Nick said:
Not looking good...

Click to expand...
When I glance at that map that is the slide you picked to display in your post I say YEAH the north slope of Uintas is doing great! Then I see it is simply green because it is 100% - i.e. normal. Now more and more red, yellow and orange have become the new normal over the years with a few exceptions. NOTE - I know that we are not necessarily in a drought every year but this is a snow on the ground map. I can attest to the fact that the mountain mid and low elevations are receiving up half of our formal precipitation as rain instead of snow so it isn't accumulating in that on-the-ground reservoir we and the plants and animals for whom we are responsible are adapted to.
 
La Sals:

http://www.moabtimes.com/view/full_...ration-from-feds-?instance=home_news_1st_left

The NRCS reported current snowpack in the southeastern Utah region would provide a water equivalent that is only 12 percent of normal for this time of year. Even the big storm that hit the area a few days before Christmas had raised the number only seven percentage points, up from five percent reported as of Dec. 21.
 
Last edited:
The La Sals got 8" Wednesday this week. There was 4" on the ground before that. Just enough to ski the roads. Our groomers did a great job with what little they had, before some local kids got their trucks up there and ruined it for all. We need a gate instead of a berm.

One hour before the fishtailing truck roared by:
Untitled
 
There's a forecast I like to see! I don't know much of anything about this incoming storm system beyond this, but let's hope it's a good one.
Capture.PNG

Edit: I looked into it and they're expecting 10-20" in the mountains. A kind of wide margin, but I'll take it.
 
Grand County (Moab) just declared themselves a drought disaster area.

http://www.moabsunnews.com/news/article_4544b234-fc68-11e7-803b-637f5ab07d8a.html

According to Bailey, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sent out letters that “basically” tell livestock permitees to prepare for significant reductions in numbers. At the same time, he said, he’s talked to ranchers in Emery County who are looking at the possibility of reducing their livestock numbers.
 
This storm is fantastic. Over here in the Cottonwood Heights/Midvale area, we've got 6" on the ground in most places. Can't wait to see what it's like in the mountains soon. Let it snow!

Here's a picture of Little Cottonwood Creek at Crestwood Park on my run this morning.

IMG_20180120_084118.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top