Oregon snowpack suddenly looking much better

Brian in OR. said:
once again
https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/or_swepctnormal_update.pdf
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That’s awesome! Last week I camped at a reservoir in NE Oregon. It was snowing when I arrived and set up the trailer and spitting snow when I left. In between, I fished in wind, rain, sleet, and hail. Definitely a delayed spring. I think that they are getting rain now as well as snow in the mountains. I live in the Tri Cities and it rained all day, which very seldom happens.
 
Eastside said:
I think that they are getting rain now as well as snow in the mountains. I live in the Tri Cities and it rained all day, which very seldom happens.
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0.64" so far. We have been sitting in the center of circulation for a while. Made for a wet day fishing but it's great.
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Things are looking up somewhat, had to hike into a favorite stream for recon with the pups (rather than drive), water slightly up, rather than down as it was last year. Other positive is the road up to Lava Lakes is still closed (or at least last I checked last week) - usually can be up there in April.

Edit: for multiple spelling issues that made it almost, OK, completely incomprehensible.

Cheers
 
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SurfnFish said:
There is no silver bullet coming, we are just at the start of whatever the new normal is going to be, and all we can do is understand it, and live with it. Our course is as fixed right now as if entering the top of White Horse on the Big D...we can moderate the line to some degree, but other than that, off the hell we go...
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Hang in there dude.
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It's simple. The western United States does not have the natural resources to support the populations of our large cities and the agriculture to feed our nation. Unless people move back east there is no viable solution.
Agriculture should have precedent over population centers.
 
We have a wierd scenario in the Sierra where snow is now above normal at the Central Sierra Snow Lab, precip is below but still a lot (56 inches is below normal), but the snowpack is dismal. It took me some learnin’ but the way to have above average snowfall but below average precip is…. Cold storms with high snow/water ratios! The way winter went here we got everything in three pronged events followed by dry spells that melted much of everything.
 
Whereas Deschutes County reached normal this winter, the water table is at 60%. A normal winter does not change two decades of drought conditions. Bend says they have enough water in the Cascades fed aquifier for the next 20 years, with zero planning for next steps after that other than crossed fingers ...and recently approved 5,000 more homes in city limits, and expanded the urban growth boundry east planning for another 20,000 homes.
California declared major drought conditions...yet no restrictions on the 1M plus pools, tens of millions of lawns still in place.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two biggest reservoirs in the country, are so low that another 10% drop and they cannot produce hydro power for over 5M folks.
Israel supplies it's entire nation with desalinized water...CA will eventually have to do the same. AZ, if it wants to survive, will end up piping desal from CA as well, or just evaporate into dust.
Whereas the 5 western states are in ongoing drought conditions, 17 states to the east are getting above average rainfall, which has been long predicted as climate change accelerates. USDA expect 'crop relocations' by the farming mega-corps to the appropriate zones. Rapidly warming Manitoba Canada is now raising crops that were previously only grown much further south, and vinters are now buying up land for vineyards to grow grapes as current vineyards willbe lost to drought and warming.
The new normal is there is no normal..
 
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SurfnFish said:
Whereas Dechutes County reached normal this winter, the water table is at 60%. A normal winter does not change two decades of drought conditions. Bend says they have enough water in the Cascades fed aquifier for the next 20 years, with zero planning for next steps after that other than crossed fingers ...and recently approved 5,000 more homes in city limits, and expanded the urban growth boundry east planning for another 20,000 homes.
California declared major drought conditions...yet no restrictions on the 1M plus pools, tens of millions of lawns still in place.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the two biggest reservoirs in the country, are so low that another 10% drop and they cannot produce hydro power for over 5M folks.
Israel supplies it's entire nation with desalinized water...CA will eventually have to do the same. AZ, if it wants to survive, will end up piping desal from CA as well, or just evaporate into dust.
Whereas the 5 western states are in ongoing drought conditions, 17 states to the east are getting above average rainfall, which has been long predicted as climate change accelerates. USDA expect 'crop relocations' by the farming mega-corps to the appropriate zones. Rapidly warming Manitoba Canada is now raising crops that were previously only grown much further south, and vinters are now buying up land for vineyards to grow grapes as current vineyards willbe lost to drought and warming.
The new normal is there is no normal..
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Yeah the SW USA has never made much sense to me. I think the level we have allowed that region to be populated is a brilliant display of hubris.
 
Evan B said:
Yeah the SW USA has never made much sense to me. I think the level we have allowed that region to be populated is a brilliant display of hubris.
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Fun fact: when they ripped out orange groves to build houses in Tucson, water use went down, since orange trees are thirsty. That's not to say we should put in more golf courses, or plant more water intensive crops. Another fun fact: Tucson was the only large city in the US without a surface water source. When they overdrew the aquifers, causing subsidence, they build a canal to the Colorado River which caused a massive change in water chemistry. This destroyed appliances and pipes in peoples' houses. It was not fun.
 
Bend area officials are still calling for drought, even with the late snow. They say it’s because of lack of rain (overall).
 
While I like the snowpack, a look at the water year (since september) shows were still in a deficit for the year. The rivers are full now, and I would expect them to still be quite high for the openers in a week or two. On my scouting walks I've noticed more grass and vegetation overall. When it does dry out could be an ugly fire season.
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swimmy said:
This should be reassuring for all of the alarmists.

mt_swepctnormal_update.png
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Reassuring for some regions, alarming for others. I canceled my NM small steam trip this summer based on likely conditions there. Northern New Mexico = bone dry and/or on fire. I will have to fry up my own sopapillas this year.
 
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