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Click Here 43 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 30, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 9, 2004 Melting snow didn’t show Hydrologists wonder where the water went By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune As the past week’s snow continues to melt amid Southern Oregon’s recent thaw, hydrologists are scratching their heads and wondering where all the water has gone. The holiday weeks’ snow and rain did not translate into the watery runoff that typically raises rivers and swells reservoirs after winter storms. Flows in the upper Rogue River near Eagle Point on Thursday were about half the levels forecast by the National Weather Service. Runoff into Lost Creek Lake was less than a third Thursday of what forecasters anticipated when the storms first hit, and Bear Creek experienced flows as low as if no rain or snow fell. And despite consistent melting of snow near Prospect, the Rogue River there sported less water than its historical average. It’s as if the rain and snow were never there. Advertisement "I’m a little baffled," said Jim Buck, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager for Lost Creek and Applegate reservoirs. "My place in Eagle Point is so saturated that it can’t take another cup of water," Buck said. "As wet as it’s been, you don’t expect it all to soak into the ground. But that seems to be where it went." Southern Oregon remains the state’s weather anomaly, escaping the frigid snow and sleet storms that have clamped the northwest corner of Oregon in an icy grip. Cold air that crept down from Canada slid down the Columbia Gorge and dispersed "like molasses" throughout the Willamette Valley, said Michael O’Brien, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Medford. But the cold air didn’t cross the Cascades, so temperatures here remained far warmer, O’Brien said. When this week’s storm swept in, the bulk of the precipitation headed north toward Portland and not the Rogue Valley, he said. "Typically, a blob (of precipitation) will go somewhere, not everywhere," O’Brien said. Based on predicted rains, snow accumulation and expected temperatures, the weather service’s River Forecast Center in Portland called for in-flows into Lost Creek Lake this week of about 6,000 cubic feet per second of water, but flows were typically less than a third of that this week. The Jackson County snow melted slowly over several days, generating less water running down the slopes than anticipated and far lower flows into reservoirs like Lost Creek and Applegate than what similar storms normally generate, Buck said. "Even though we haven’t gotten the rain, I’m still real surprised at the lack of in-flow," Buck said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times