The snowpack in the Olympic Mountains is above average for February, providing promise of summer river water, but the winter isn’t over yet, a federal water supply expert said Monday.
There are four Snotel (snow telemetry) weather stations in the Olympic Mountains, each measuring snowpack and rainfall in a different river watershed.
Snotel is a system of snow telemetry and related climate sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the western states.
The Buckinghorse Snotel site, which measures snowpack in the southern Elwha River watershed, had 93 inches of snow, or 95 percent of average, on Monday.
The Waterhole Snotel site, in the Morse Creek watershed east of Hurricane Ridge, had 66 inches of snow, or 104 percent of average.
Dungeness Snotel site, in the Dungeness River watershed, had 20 inches of snow, or 105 percent of average.
In Jefferson County, the Mount Craig Snotel site, in the Dosewallips River watershed, had 65 inches of snow, or 109 percent of average.
Those snowpacks are likely to be enough to prevent the drought difficulties the region saw during the summer of 2015, Pattee said.
The winter of 2014-15 produced the lowest snowpack on record and saw the usual mountain snow fall as rain and run off before the summer peak water-use season.
Gov. Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought emergency in May last year, and by mid-summer several North Olympic Peninsula communities, agriculture users and businesses were put on voluntary or mandatory water-use restrictions.
Dry conditions persisted through the summer, and some water-use restrictions remained in place through October.
A wet fall and a snow-heavy early winter helped restore groundwater levels and build early snowpack, Pattee said.
January surprise
The National Weather Service long-range forecast expected a dry January due to typical El Nino weather patterns which often drive the jet stream southward into California, but it didn’t happen, he said.
Pattee said that while there was a short dry period in early January, the usual winter rains returned to Washington state for the rest of the month.
“It was a surprise to a lot of people,” he said.
Temperatures in Washington mountain ranges have been just a little above average, but cold night time temperatures have kept the snowpack from beginning a serious melt, he said.
However, he noted that the El Nino warm water pattern in the Pacific Ocean remains very strong and could still change the outlook to some degree.
“If the jet stream dives into California and stays there and the temperature jumps, we could lose snowpack, Pattee said.
But even if that happens, “it would not be anywhere near where we were last year,” he said.
Stats elsewhere
The Cascade Mountain range snowpack is also in good shape for the water supply.
Statewide, sensors show the snowpack at 110 percent, with a high of 131 percent in the Okanagan watershed and a low of 92 percent in the Spokane Basin.
“Almost everyone is in the green or blue this year,” Pattee said, referring to the color codes indicating snowpacks above average or far above average.
“Last year, everyone was red or orange,” he said.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
