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So far, snow good Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Snow piled high along the road to Mount Ashland illustrates the above-average snowpack recorded Friday in the first snow survey of the winter. At 36 inches with 9.8 inches of water at the Siskiyou Summit, it is the second highest for this time of year since recordings began in the 1930s. It's deep ... it's white ... and it's early: First survey of the season shows a 'great start' for the winter water buildup By PAUL FATTIG Steve Johnson found a big Christmas gift from Mother Nature early Friday morning on the first snow survey of the winter. It was 36 inches of snow containing 9.8 inches of water at the Siskiyou Summit snow survey site, elevation 4,600 feet. The normal reading during Christmas week is 10 inches of depth containing 2.8 inches of water. But during last year's severe drought, Johnson found only seven inches of snow containing a mere 1.9 inches of water at the site by the end of December. "We're off to a great start, one that is sorely needed after the winter we had last year," said Johnson, snow ranger for the Ashland Ranger District in the Rogue River National Forest. "Right now, we're about triple the normal amount," he added of the area where the agency has been taking snow survey measurements since the 1930s. "We're far above average for this time of year." Stan Fox, the snow hydrologist for the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, agreed. The snow depths and water content in the Rogue-Umpqua Basin is about 180 percent of normal, he reported. "When I look at telemetry readings (automatic remote recordings) in the Rogue system, I have to stop and look again," Fox said. "It has the highest percentage in the state. It's way up there." In contrast, the readings for the Rogue region at this time last year were only 53 percent of normal, Fox observed. The mountain snowpack provides a bank of water for the summer streamflow and reservoir storage. Measurements are taken at the end of December, January, February and March. All of the nine remote sensors in the Rogue-Umpqua drainage show plenty of snow and all-important water content, Fox said. For instance, Bigelow Camp, some 6,000 feet high on the south side of the Applegate River drainage, has about four feet of snow containing 15.7 inches of water. That is 285 percent of normal for this time of year, Fox said. And King Mountain, elevation 4,000 feet in southeastern Douglas County, has about three feet of snow with more than 10 inches of water, reflecting a whopping 429 percent of average, he said. "We're really not out of the woods yet, but we're off to a tremendous start," said Fox, a statewide snow surveyor for 22 years. The statewide mountain snowpack is 153 percent of average, compared to 76 percent of average during Christmas week of 2000, he said. But last year's drought left a legacy of extremely low soil moistures and low reservoirs, he said. Above-average precipitation is needed this winter to make up for last year's water deficit, he said. "I want to be sitting at 120 percent of normal throughout the rest of the (snow survey) year," Fox said. "I'm optimistic that will happen. The next three months are critical." Johnson, a longtime snow surveyor on Mount Ashland, is also optimistic. The reading at the Siskiyou Summit is the second highest for this time of year since 42 inches of snow containing 11.5 inches of water was measured late in December 1970. "It's still very early in the year; anything can happen between now and April," Johnson said. "But if we have a normal year from now on, we should be in good shape for the summer." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.