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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 31, 2006 Above-average snowpack should help fill lakes By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune For next summer’s irrigators and this winter’s skiers, it’s the best of times. Snow has been piling up steadily in the mountains for two months, providing Southern Oregon with one of the deepest early-season snowpacks in recent years. As of Monday, the combined Rogue and Umpqua basins had 153 percent of the average precipitation through Jan. 30, and the snowpack held 128 percent of its average water content for this stage of winter. "We’re thrilled to death," said Carol Bradford, manager of the Medford Irrigation District. "It looks like we’ve got about 90 inches, (near Fourmile Lake) and we were hoping for at least that much (to fill the lake)." The Mount Ashland ski area received about 15 inches of new snow Sunday and Monday, giving skiers and snowboarders more than 8 feet of snow at the lodge and nearly 12 feet at the summit of the 7,500 foot mountain. Advertisement "People really appreciate fresh new snow, and since it’s been cold the snow has been dry," said Rick Saul, Mount Ashland’s marketing director. "The word has gotten around that the snow is good." There’s ample snow anywhere you go in Oregon this year. The driest areas to date in the state have at least 110 percent of the normal precipitation for the end of January, according to data compiled by the National Resources Conservation Service. Many areas in southeastern Oregon’s high desert have received as much as 150 percent of their average precipitation for the end of January. Deep snow in early winter increases the likelihood that there will be plenty of runoff in spring and summer to fill reservoirs and keep irrigation canals flowing during the dry season, said Steve Johnson, snow ranger for the Ashland Ranger District of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. "This is the best year we’ve had in a while," Johnson said. "It’s nice to see those big numbers again. "We’re close to double what we had at this time a year ago." Only five years in the past 20 (1985, 1993, 1995, 2002 and 2003) have had comparable early-season snow depths, he said. Johnson measured the snow depth Friday at four Mount Ashland sites that are measured annually at the end of each winter month. Snow depth at the four sites ranged from 34 inches at 4,600 feet (179 percent of normal for the end of January) to 83 inches at 6,500 feet (126 percent of normal). Snow depth varies at different elevations because the snow level fluctuates during the winter. At the end of December, only 2 inches of snow were recorded at 4,600 feet because warm rains had washed away much of the early snowpack. Snow absorbs moisture like a sponge, but its capacity is limited. The deeper the snow, the more water it can absorb before it melts. Rain melted away the meager low-elevation snowpack and ran downhill in the Dec. 30 flood, but at higher elevations where the snow was deeper, much of the rain simply soaked in. Now it’s a layer of hard ice buried under newer snow. With so much ice and snow, reservoir lakes such as Howard Prairie and Emigrant will almost certainly fill this year, said Jim Pendleton, manager of the Talent Irrigation District. Pendleton said Hyatt Lake is already at full pool, and Howard Prairie is 82 percent full. "I doubt that we’ll be short on water this (irrigation) season," he said. While the winter water makes irrigators smile, it came with a price. Heavy runoff during late December’s storms damaged many canals and irrigation ditches across Jackson County. "We’re still digging out in some places from the storms," Pendleton said. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail Above-average snowpack should help fill lakes ">[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