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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 30, 2005 Snow survey generally positive Ground is ‘good and wet,’ despite low snow levels in mountains By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune On the surface, the first snow measurement of the winter at the Siskiyou Summit makes next year’s streamflow look very bleak. After all, the snow depth was a scant 18 percent of normal while the water content was only 34 percent of average. But the 13-inch depth containing 2.9 inches of water at 4,600 feet above sea level doesn’t tell the whole story, cautions Steve Johnson, snow ranger for the Ashland Ranger District in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. "The story really is that the snow left by the colder storms early in December at the mid-elevations of 4,000 and 5,000 feet virtually disappeared because of those warm storms we’ve had recently," he said, noting those mid-elevation snowpacks had been far above normal. "But the ground is very saturated, squishy like a wet sponge," he added. "And the upper elevation sites haven’t lost that much snow. When you look at the overall precipitation, the ground is good and wet." Advertisement In fact, the higher elevation automated snow-measurement sites indicate the snowpack has simply absorbed much of the rain, he said. In the high mountains ringing the Rogue/Umpqua basin, the snow water content is 85 percent of normal with the total precipitation 127 percent of normal, he said. The mountain snowpack provides a bank of water for summer streamflows and reservoir storage. The U.S. Forest Service works with the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service in measuring the snow survey sites. Most of the sites above 6,000 feet have above-normal snowpacks while lower elevation sites have below-normal snowpack, Johnson observed. For instance, the survey site at Four Mile Lake, elevation 6,000 feet, has a snowpack that is 103 percent of normal, he said. The snowpack atop Mount Ashland, elevation 7,500 feet, is 74 inches. But King Mountain, elevation 4,000 feet in southeast Douglas County, has no snow. Big Red Mountain, rising to some 6,200 feet elevation some eight miles southwest of Mount Ashland, has 8.9 inches of snow water, reflecting an 82 percent average. Up at Crater Lake National Park, the snowpack was 76 inches at the park headquarters on Thursday. The average for the site, at some 6,400 feet elevation, is 62 inches for Dec. 29, according to a park spokeswoman. Since Oct. 1, the site has received 204.5 inches of snow, compared to an average of 167.4 inches, she said. The water content is 113.8 percent of normal, she said. At the Siskiyou Summit site, the record for the end of December is 52 inches of snow measured in 1965. However, there have been half a dozen times when there was no snow at the site during the first measurement of the year. Historically, only one of the four snow measurement sites in the forest is physically measured in December. The Siskiyou Summit snow survey site is the oldest, established in 1935. The three newer sites, all 6,000 feet elevation or higher, are measured at the end of January, February, March and April. "Remember, this is still relatively early in the season," Johnson said. "We’ve got a long ways to go. But it looks like it’s turning out to be a good year from a water standpoint." Jon Lea, snow survey supervisor for the NRCS in Oregon, agreed. His snow survey on Mount Hood Thursday found 63 inches of snow containing 22.5 inches of water, reflecting 78 percent of normal. "Typically, 40 percent of the snowpack is on the ground by January 1," Lea said. "We can still go either way at this point. But we’re off to a good start." The National Weather Service is calling for rain in the lower elevations through New Year’s Day, with snow falling in the higher elevations. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at Snow survey generally positive ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement