Utah snow pack in our mountains has peaked and is beginning the season runoff. As the snow melts down from the highest mountains, some of the snow totals indicated by Snotel monitoring are still quite deep.
Mammoth-Cottonwood, my reference point. This graph plots Snow Water Equivalent and Precipitation Accumulation for 2017 and 2016. Although significant snow melt has already taken place this spring, the remaining accumulation is still about even with the total from last year. Within the past couple of weeks, the precipitation accumulation has continued a steep climb.
The most recent view of snow and water at Gardner Peak in the southwest corner of Utah shows snow melt tapering off, and precipitation totals comparable with last year at this time.
At Mammoth Pass in California, the melt of the immense snow pack from this season is just showing early signs. It is likely to challenge local flood control resource beyond limit.
And again, for scale, Ben Lomond Peak in northern Utah has started early runoff, but still holds enormous potential.
Watch out, it's on the way!
More commentary from Los Angeles
No comments:
Post a Comment