Snowpack melt sites set new record lows

Washington’s snowpack melt this year was earlier than usual, according to data from the 2015 forecast by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The fifth NRCS report issued Friday noted the snowpack on the west side of the state is mostly gone.

The prior NRCS report reported 74 percent of our long-term monitoring sites set new record low snowpack, according to NRCS Water Supply Specialist Scott Pattee.

He added a warm and dry March set low snow pack melting earlier than usual.”

Pattee said the long range forecast for the next three months for Whitman County calls for warmer and drier weather with temperatures between five to 10 degrees above normal.

Pattee also said that the lower Snake River basin is at 69 percent of normal, one of the best ones in the area. He said the water in the Snake River comes from the snowpack in the Selway Mountain Range in Wyoming and Idaho. Weather patterns last winter dumped more snow there than in other mountain ranges and the snowpack there is good, Pattee said.

Historically, April 1 is the peak snowpack. This year, the peak came earlier. April 1 statewide readings were 22 percent of normal, shattering the previous record low of 33 percent set in 2005.

“The only holdout is in the Methow River Basin which is reporting 79 percent of normal,” Pattee said.

In western states where snowmelt accounts for the majority of seasonal water supply, information about snowpack serves as an indicator of future water availability. Streamflow in the west consists largely of accumulated mountain snow that melts and flows into streams as temperatures warm in the spring and summer. National Water and Climate Center scientists analyze the snowpack, precipitation, air temperature and other measurements taken from remote sites to develop the water supply forecasts.

NRCS monitors conditions year-round and will continue to issue monthly forecasts until June.

Since 1939, USDA has conducted snow surveys and issued regular water supply forecasts. Other resources on drought include the U.S. Drought Monitor.