Seasonal snowfall records being set this year

[Darren Addy]

Perhaps someone has some data points to add to this, but a comment in today's Forecast Discussion for Wyoming made me wonder about seasonal snowfall records. The comment said:

THE SNOW CONTINUES TO PILE UP IN THE TETONS WITH THE RENDEZVOUS
BOWL SITE NOW AT 566 INCHES FOR THE SEASON AND COUNTING. FIFTEEN
OF THAT SINCE 4 PM MONDAY. . . . NEW STORM SYSTEM THEN MOVES IN AROUND SUNRISE WEDNESDAY WITH SNOW...
HEAVY AT TIMES...INTO THE EVENING. . . .OPTIMAL SNOW CRYSTAL GROWTH TEMPERATURES WILL COMBINE
WITH THESE DYNAMICS AND LAPSE RATES IN EXCESS OF 7.5C/KM TO
PRODUCE SNOWFALL RATES AROUND AN INCH PER HOUR OR MORE IN THE HIGHEST
ELEVATIONS.

So I got to wondering about seasonal snowfall records and got to Googling.
Rendevous Bowl apparently has a 33 year average of 320 inches. (recordkeeping began there in 1975).

Seems that records are being set in multiple places: Madison, WI old seasonal record was 76 inches, and they have topped 100 already this year (with more apparently on the way).
Northern Maine has set seasonal records for the year (records kept since 1939).

Darren Addy
Kearney, NE

 

[Mike Kovalchick]

ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/WestwideSWErecord.pdf

That link shows quite well where new seasonal records have been set in the Western United States with the data coming from the Snotel network. The Cascade range seems to be the big winner.

Highest values this year are in Washington State with 90" of liquid in the snowpack at "Paradise" Inn with a respectable 200" on the ground. Having visted that location on a couple of occasions-if you are into snow..and you haven't been to Paradise(or Mt. Baker for that matter)..you haven't lived yet!

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/nwcc/sntl-datarpt.jsp?site=679&days=7&state=WA

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I have been to some of the mountains west of Denver, Colorado and have seen 400" snow packs.

Above: The "tops" of the trees (half of the 60' pines is covered) stick out above a snow pack that is at least 25-30 FEET deep at 12,000' elevation!

 

[B Ozanne]

Many places in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are approaching seasonal records. Although, the winter of '68-'69 set the bar very high so that is still the mark to beat.

There are some big contrasts as well with the Green Mountains seeing abundant snow, while the nearby Champlain Valley received quite a bit of rain and shadowing during the big storms. Coastal CT had very little snow. Which just goes to show that cold is not the only recipe for snow. Northern New England saw such big totals because they were on the dividing line of warm and cold air where the maximum amount of moisture was.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

I'm probably posting in the wrong area for this question but I find it directly applicable to the topic...

Because of these record snowfalls, I wonder how much is needed to fill the aquifers to cancel the droughts that we've had in the past few years, especially in the West? Can that be calculated effectively and accurately.

I was in Colorado Springs a few year back when they had all of the forest fires and remember the reservoirs being fairly empty. Bears were coming down from the mountains to rummage through garbage cans because berries and such had dried up.

Basically, how long does a recovery take in instance like this?

 

[B Ozanne]

It will certainly help with the drought situation in the west. I saw an article a few days ago showing that many areas of extreme drought have been reduced. Its just a small dent in the problem though. Lakes Mead and Powell will not being go to full pool anytime soon.

There is an incredible data network in the west to monitor their water assets. Coupled with computer models they have a very good idea of how much water is sitting in the snowpack and what it means for the summer dry season.