BEND, OR -- Oregon ski resorts are thrilled with the snowpack. Mt. Bachelor reports it has received more than 300 inches this season and it plans to operate its full footprint through April 21. Spring operations begin the following day.
Snowpack in the Upper Deschutes-Crooked River basin is now 116% of normal. "In a lot of areas, snowpack levels are where we like to see them right now," says NRCS Hydrologist Matt Warbritton, "Across the Cascades and the central Blues, several of our SNOTEL stations have above-normal snowpack, and some don’t. Some are still below normal, so some areas still need to play catch-up by quite a bit."
NOAA determined this winter has been the warmest on record, across the country. El Nino conditions brought higher than normal temperatures to Oregon, as well. But Warbritton says Oregon’s snowpack is slightly above normal for this time of year, "And that’s really due to three significant storms we’ve had, from early December to now. If not for even one of those storms, we may not be seeing these elevated snowpack levels."
Some trouble spots remain, like in the South Santiam and Hood River watersheds. "The mid-winter heatwave that we experienced in the second half of January had quite a significant impact on those sites’ ability to fully recover," Warbritton tells KBND News. In Central Oregon, snowpack in the Ochocos is now 116% of what's considered normal for this time of year, "That area’s been doing fairly well and that’s really good news for a region that’s experienced more extreme drought in the last five years." Nearly all of the middle of the state is still considered abnormally dry or in moderate drought, stretching from Wasco County to the California border.
Oregon’s snowpack typically peaks in early April, so we’re still a few weeks away from the end of snow accumulation season. "We’d still like to see that improvement continue into summer," says Warbritton, "And that’s really often going to be dependent on the rate of snowmelt during the spring, and also, temperatures."He is concerned about this weekend’s predicted warm-up, "In March, seeing temperatures above freezing in the mountains is not something we want to see, because then that will promote melting of snowpack. Especially, when you have sunny conditions, as well."
Images: (top) courtesy NRCS-Oregon; (upper right) courtesy U.S. Drought Monitor
