Page 11 - Flathead Beacon // 1.6.16

NEWS
Measuring the Flathead Snowpack
Snow depth and snow water equivalent in the region lower than record averages
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BY CLARE MENZEL OF THE BEACON
Though this winter may seem colder and wetter than last year’s, measure- ments of the region’s snowpack show that this season is lagging behind his- toric averages.
The 11 Natural Resources Conser- vation Service SNOTEL stations in or around the Flathead Valley all reported lower levels of snow depth and snow water equivalent at the end of 2015 than the period of record average. Just two SNOTEL stations reported deeper snow on Dec. 31, 2015, than they did at the end of 2014, and four reported a greater snow water equivalent.
Though levels of precipitation are not worrisome, said USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Montana water supply specialist Lucas Zukiewicz, the snowpack in this region is, overall, below normal.
At the end of 2015, snow depth topped out around 66 inches in parts of the Swan Range, the deepest level in the state. Else- where around the region, however, the depth still hovers around 20 inches. The 11 local SNOTEL stations combined mea- sured 373 inches of snow on Dec. 31, com- pared to 461 inches measured on the same date in 2014 and the 410.34-inch average.
Zukiewicz said that while “people love to know how deep the snow is – ski- ers tend to focus on snow depth – snow water equivalent may be a more mean- ingful measurement.” Plus, by this mea- surement, the valley’s snowpack health looks like it’s in better shape.
Still, when compared to data from last year, which closely matched the period of record, the snow water equivalent clocks in slightly below normal. As of Jan. 4, 2016, SNOTEL stations in the Flathead had accumulated 80 percent of the snow cover that experts hope to see by this point in the season. Other regions in the state, like the Bitterroot and Je erson in Southwestern Montana, have seen over 100 percent of their normal snow water equivalent. The Kootenai is at 87 percent.
By measuring the amount of water in the snowpack, the snow water equivalent provides a record of the amount of precip- itation that has fallen and stuck around as snow. This gauge is useful because it tells us how much water will trickle from the mountains into our streams and rivers come springtime. It’s important to know this, Zukiewicz said, because the snow- pack is the state’s biggest reservoir and can determine the severity of summer’s re season.
“October was kind of lackluster in terms of precipitation,” Zukiewicz said, “but November and December ended up being pretty decent ... We still have a num- ber of months to see how things play out.”
The Mission Mountains near Polson. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
SNOW DEPTH IN INCHES
MANY GLACIER FLATTOP MOUNTAIN GRAVE CREEK
STAHL PEAK BANFIELD MOUNTAIN HAND CREEK BLACKTAIL MOUNTAIN BISSON CREEK
MOSS PEAK
NOISY BASIN
EMERY CREEK
TOTAL
PERIOD OF RECORD AVG.
19.57 68.47 26.54 56.46 30.93 20.73 26.5 16.57 59.79 59.47 25.31 410.34
PERIOD OF RECORD AVG.
6 19.84 6.7 15.86 8.36 4.98 5.75 4 16.1 16.95 6.21 110.75
SOURCE: NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
AS OF DEC. 31, 2015
18 61 18 55 29 20 24 13 50 64 21 373
AS OF DEC. 31, 2014
14 68 35 56 25 22 25 29 81 76 30 461
SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT IN INCHES
AS OF DEC. 31, 2015 AS OF DEC. 31, 2014
MANY GLACIER
FLATTOP MOUNTAIN
GRAVE CREEK
STAHL PEAK
BANFIELD MOUNTAIN
HAND CREEK
BLACKTAIL MOUNTAIN
BISSON CREEK
MOSS PEAK
NOISY BASIN
EMERY CREEK
TOTAL 87.1 111.9
3.7 3.1 16.9 17.2 4 7.4 14.7 15.1 6.4 5.7 4.4 4.2 5.1 5 3 5.8 12.5 21.1 14.5 19.9 5.6 7.4
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clare@ atheadbeacon.com
JANUARY 6, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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