[pct-l] Washington Snow Year

[trekker4 at aol.com]

_griffin at u.washington.edu_ (mailto:griffin at u.washington.edu)  is  published 
for the 1st of each month, Jan-May; they used to do a 1 Jun report  also. 
Much better than tables of statistics. "Save as" a picture, then print it;  
it'll come out 8.5x11.
 
Bob  "Trekker"
Big Bend Desert Denizen, and...
Naturalized Citizen - Republic  of Texas  

 
In a message dated 1/13/2010 10:35:37 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
griffin at u.washington.edu writes:

I just  get the digest, so excuse the repetition if someone has already 
replied to  Tex's question.

In today's Seattle Times, there was a brief item about  the lower than 
normal snowpack thanks to El  Nino:

-------------------------
Associated Press
YAKIMA, Wash.  —

El Nino is shaping up as expected for the Pacific Northwest this  winter, 
resulting in warmer temperatures, drier conditions and  below-average 
mountain snowpack in Washington, the federal government said  Tuesday.

The warmer and drier conditions this year have resulted in  mountain 
snowpack levels that are below average across Washington state,  except 
on the Olympic Peninsula, said Scott Pattee, water supply  specialist for 
the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation  Service.

It's too early to know if those conditions will continue for  the rest of 
the winter, but weather forecasters predict above-average  temperatures 
through March, he said.

That could present challenges  for water managers and water users later 
this summer, who rely on mountain  snowpack to feed rivers and streams 
and fill lakes and reservoirs as it  melts. Seventy to 80 percent of 
Washington's surface water supplies come  from mountain snowmelt in the 
summer.

After above-average  precipitation in October and heavy snowfall in 
November, Washington was on  track for a good winter, Pattee said.

"But come December, Mother Nature  just turned the faucet off," he said. 
"Typically, by this time, we should  have a solid 50 percent of our 
snowpack on the ground and we're 10-15  percent behind on that right now."

Last month, the Pacific Northwest  experienced the 14th-coldest December 
since 1895. It was also the  11th-driest December for Washington state.

In Eastern Washington,  snowpack levels ranged from 56 percent of average 
in the Spokane River  basin to 89 percent of average in the Walla Walla 
area. West of the  Cascades, snowpack in the central Puget Sound area 
registered at 72  percent of average, while the Olympic Peninsula came in 
at 123 percent of  average.
----------------------------------------------


It's too  early to say for sure, but this could turn out to be a good 
year for  southbounders. Stay tuned..

Tom "Bullfrog"  Griffin
Seattle

>Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:31:41  -0600
>From: "CHARLES  MILLER"  <chuck-miller at earthlink.net>
>Subject: [pct-l] Washington Snow  Year
>
>
>How is the snow depth going in Washington so far  this year?  Does the 
year appear average, or more, or less.  
>
>I know no one knows what will happen the next months, but how  does it 
look so far?
>
>Thanks for any  ideas,
>Tex
>
>   
>
_______________________________________________
Pct-l mailing  list
Pct-l at backcountry.net
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l