Given the definitive transition of the seasons upon us (and the people say Amen to that) it’s time to take a final look at Montana and Northern Rockies snowpack and water year to date data.
The Montana Snowpack and SWE Numbers
An old timer in the Flathead (who was actually an extremely fit and attractive nurse and former Forest Service supervisor in my old office) was the first one to drive home the simple but oh so critical point that the most important data point for the regional snowpack was in fact the SWE – the snow water equivalent – held in the snowpack.
While the Water Year to Date (image above) doesn’t look too bad (pretty damned closed to average for most basins), the Snow Water Equivalent numbers aren’t quite so pretty below. Shoulder season precipitation falling as rain versus snow, in part driven by the less than expected El Nino, is the most common explanation our meteorologist compadres offer up.
West-Wide Snowpack
Western US snowpack numbers (by reporting site above) are as varied as ever as those who pay attention to such arcane things have come to expect.
Western US SWE by river basin (below) shows the water year winners and losers so far this year – there are a few places (like central and western Oregon) that just can’t seem to get a break…
