Despite a dusting of fresh snow on the peaks, the snowpack in the Olympic Mountains looks more like a record snow lack, fueling concerns about a thirsty summer.
As of Saturday, the snowpack was at a mere 3 percent of average, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service, which monitors snowpack to predict summer water supplies.
It’s the second-lowest snowpack by percentage west of the Rocky Mountains, behind only California’s Lake Tahoe region, which measured 2 percent of the mammoth snowfall expected near the lake in the Sierra Nevada range.
“It has been one for the record books,” said Barb Maynes, spokeswoman for Olympic National Park.
The park has been keeping records for Hurricane Ridge since 1948, and the current snowpack is at its lowest ever, Maynes said.
Peak snowpack is usually around April 11, according to Conservation Service data.
The mountain range remains categorized as being in “moderate drought” by the U.S. Drought Monitor’s most recent report.
“Plentiful water-year precipitation (since Oct. 1) in the Northwest was in sharp contrast to virtually non-existent snowpacks, with the snow-water equivalents less than 25 percent of normal (locally less than 10 percent) across Oregon as well as southern and northwestern Washington,” according to the Drought Monitor report issued Thursday.
Rainfall has been about average this winter, according to the National Weather Service.
The lack of snowpack has long-term impacts.
“The lack of snow maintained concerns for spring and summer water supplies despite the generally favorable 2014-15 water year,” the Drought Monitor report said.
On March 13, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought emergency for several regions in Washington state, including the Olympics.
The Olympic Mountains have four SNOTEL sites, which are Conservation Service locations with a laser system that measures snowpack water content.
All four are either bare-ground or nearly devoid of snow at a time of year when snow is often measured in yards.
A mere 2.5 inches of snowpack was measured Saturday at the Waterhole site near Hurricane Ridge, where 40 inches is more typical.
None was at the Dungeness site above Sequim.
The Waterhole site is located on a saddle ridge between the Elwha River and Morse Creek watersheds, and the Dungeness site is in the Dungeness River watershed.
Deep in the Olympic Mountains in Jefferson County, the Buckinghorse site had only 4.1 inches of snowpack, and Mount Crag, above Brinnon, had none.
The Buckinghorse site is in the southern Elwha watershed, and the Mount Crag site is in the Dosewallips watershed.
Despite the low snowpack, rainfall remains at about average for the winter.
The sites have measured 105 percent of average precipitation for the rain year, which is measured from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 of the following year.
Waterhole measured 57.9 inches, Dungeness measured 42 inches, Buckinghorse had 120.8 inches and Mount Crag’s site had 60.6 inches as of Saturday.
Higher-than-normal temperatures all winter are causing the normal winter snow to fall as rain, said Steve Reedy, forecaster for the Weather Service in Seattle.
Lowland sites, including those in Forks, Port Angeles and the Chimacum area, have recorded rainfall amounts just below average, Reedy said.
The Weather Service’s forecast for continued precipitation for the next week won’t be much help, he said, because the storms are warm and unlikely to produce snow.
“You might see a little [snow] here or there, but nothing that’s going to stick,” he said.
Olympic National Park officials are considering early reopening dates for some areas that in past years were snowed-in for the winter.
The road to Deer Park Campground, which typically isn’t reopened until June because of heavy snow, is mostly clear already, Maynes said.
A few very large, deep drifts block the road, but because snow is sparse at Mount Rainier National Park, which shares the large snow-removal equipment needed to clear the giant drifts, the equipment will be available earlier than usual.
Staff efforts have been redirected from their usual plowing duties on Hurricane Ridge to other projects, Maynes said.
Those projects included repairs and cleanup at Altair Campground, which was damaged in a late December flood of the Elwha River, including several campsites that were completely washed way.
That damage is also thought to be related to the lack of snowpack.
The river was swollen by rainfall that, in cooler times would have fallen as snow in the higher elevations, with its water content released slowly during the spring melt.
Instead, the rushing river changed its course and ate away at the floodplain where the campground is located on the western banks of the river.
In February, a second storm caused damage to Olympic Hot Springs Road, closing off road access to Altair Campground and other locations inside the park boundaries in the Elwha Valley.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen contributed to this report.
