Rolling into the heart of winter SWE totals for the basins out West show improvement, but fingers are crossed for Mother Nature’s magic touch through February.
Glass half full, we remain optimistic. Let’s also eye reality on the ground—it’s been a few weeks, and lots of weather has happened: wet weather and Arctic cold weather and warming trends that had a friend text yesterday: “The skiing got f$&*ed here today….”
Context is everything, and where you are likely means everything. Locally, the skiing got *&^%’ed more than a week ago. Roughly 140 miles from the Pacific Ocean, with an El Niño year on tap, the warmer winter has brought us plenty of moisture in the form of rain. That moisture is great for the skin complexion, and our otherwise dryish, sometimes dusty, low-humidity air now carries bouquets of Juniper and Sage.
As human-powered skiers/riders, we want snow and prefer lots of low-density (meaning low-SWE) snow that falls upon the hills in cycles that refresh tracked-out runs. That, in many ways, is the ideal.
Generally, a higher SWE on the ground means we have good skiing and are setting up for fewer drought declarations, spicier river runs for the floaters/boaters out there, and a more robust corn season.
We are further into the winter, so we see SWE totals bumping (even if clawing) their way up the percent scale as it reflects the 1991-2020 median.
Like our earlier SWE updates, Alaska and the Coast Range look good. SWE as a % of the median has fallen, but it looks solidly SWE-rich up yonder.
SWE for January 1.
SWE for January 1.
Red and orange colorways snap us to attention. On the West Coast’s fringes, red dominated on January 1, which was an inauspicious way to ring in the new year—regionally, there was a lack of SWE. Moving inland, the oranges and yellows dominate, illustrating some SWE improvements as the atmosphere dumped its moisture.
January had it all. Pipe-freezing weather prevailed for a time across a wide span of the West. The month evolved into something more balmy—it was 50+ degrees in Bend today, and I have a feeling that “the snow got fucked here today…” referred to the region-wide warming trend.
SWE for January 28.
SWE for January 28.
We like (or at least prefer, compared to a month ago) the colors populating the SWE map for January 28. For much of Oregon, parts of Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico SWE totals have improved. A closer examination, however, shows the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem needs some SWE love, and generally, the Northern Rockies are wanting.
The yellow on the SWE map, of which there is yellow aplenty, indicates a range of SWE between 70% -89 % of the 20-year median. That is a large range, considering 70%-74% is pretty close to the high 60s. Morphing from orange to yellow over a month is positive, but we need to wring more moisture from the skies to meet historical averages in the coming months (especially in the Northern Rockies). And The Sierra Nevada, just eeking into the organge, we feel for you.
How does that map work? I can see all the selection and display options, but I don’t see a “go” button or similar, to actually display it on the map.
Hey Slim: I’m using the NWCC iMap (interactive map for Natural Resources Conservation Services). Using Safari as my browser, any parameter I change on the right hand side menu auto-populates in the map. For the basin wide info to display, I’m selecting “basin conditions” in the map mode menu (upper right on menu). The top center of the map displays a small rectangle for the print/export function. Hope this helps, let me know if it does not.
I was trying it on my iPad, with Safari, no luck, But on my desktop with safari, it works.