OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A series of early spring storms has strengthened an already stout snowpack in the Olympic Mountains.
The Olympics’ combined snowpack is 132 percent of normal for this time of year, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Over the course of the winter, the snowpack remained about average in the Olympics while the Cascade Mountains struggled to stay above 50 percent.
Besides the Olympics, the south Cascades and the irrigation-dependent Yakima River valley also are faring better than most places, with snowpacks above 90 percent of normal.
Recent storms have raised the state’s average snowpack from 65 percent last month to more than 80 percent now.
Scott Pattee, Natural Resources Conservation Service water supply specialist, said the storms stalled out and dumped their moisture on the Olympic Mountains this winter.
“The Olympics did well all year long,” Pattee said.
In late January, the Olympics had a combined snowpack of 106 percent of normal while the Cascade drainages that feed the Seattle metro area had less than half of normal.
El Nino played role
El Nino — a periodic warming of the equatorial Pacific that pushes the storm track to the south — was in effect.
In the Pacific Northwest, winters are generally warmer and drier than usual during El Ninos. California gets cooler and wetter weather on average.
The robust snowpack in the Olympic Mountains gives rivers a boost of juice going into the drought season.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service forecasts the Elwha River water supply to be 94 percent. The Dungeness River water supply is forecast at 90 percent.
Near average runoff is expected for the Big Quilcene River also.
The service did not publish forecasts for other Peninsula rivers.
However, whatever the predictions, nothing is guaranteed.
The Climate Prediction Center is calling for a warmer and drier than normal spring and summer in Western Washington.
‘Looking high and dry’
“It’s looking high and dry,” said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Long-range models for the Peninsula call for a 70 percent chance of above average temperatures this spring and a 60 percent chance of above average temperatures this summer, Burg said.
“We’re still anticipating we’re probably going to see an early melt, even with this late snow,” Pattee said.
Precipitation is expected to be normal this spring with a 60 percent chance of below-normal rainfall this summer.
Burg said the El Nino pattern will likely persist through the spring and dissipate over the summer.
Snowpack levels
The snowpack telemetry site at 5,000-foot-high Waterhole in Olympic National Park, which eventually feeds the Elwha River and provides drinking water to the Port Angeles area, was 138 percent of normal with a 49.4-inch reading on Friday.
The 3,960-foot telemetry site at Mount Craig, which feeds the Dosewallips River basin in Jefferson County, was 129 percent of normal at 40.4 inches.
The rain-driven Dungeness River system had a 113 percent snowpack, or 8 inches, on Friday.
Olympic National Park reported 120 inches of snow at Hurricane Ridge.
Meanwhile, snowpack in the west central Cascades is just 65 percent of normal.
The north and east central Cascades, which feed the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River, has an 80 percent snowpack.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
