Huge Increase in Snowpack Since January 1 - Beragampengetahuan

There has been a substantial amount of gnashing of teeth about the lower-than-average snowpack this winter, but the truth is that the situation has gotten immensely better.

On January 1st, the situation seemed dire (below), with much of the region at less than 50% of normal snowpack. The Olympics was at 19-22% and major sections of western Oregon were as low and lower.

No wonder many in the media and elsewhere were talking about a snow apocalypse! But such a snow end-times did not occur, with an immense amount of snow falling over the region during the past two months.

Consider the situation yesterday (below).

Most of Oregon is now above 100% with large sections (blue color) MORE THAN 150% of normal. The Olympics went from roughly 20% to over 60%, roughly a three-fold increase. Large areas of the Rockies that were below 50% are now 65-100%. The southern Cascades went from around 20% to roughly 100% and the critical Yakima drainage is above 80%.

I could go on and on….the improvements have been huge and there is no looming water shortage in our region.

The NOAA/NWS River Forecast Center in Portland predicts the region streamflows 120 days in advance. The latest prediction (see below) for the period through July is for above-normal streamflow for Oregon and southwest Washington, but approximately 75-80% over the remainder of the region. We can live with that. So can the salmon.

Water resources should be sufficient to prevent any significant negative impacts. Furthermore, the wise stewardship of local reservoirs has ensured sufficient water this summer. For example, Seattle’s reservoirs are well above normal at this point (see below)