UT Snowpack Peaked 10 Days Early, Already Melting Fast; Avg. Of All State Reservoirs 69% Of Capacity
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The state’s snowpacks peaked March 27, about 10 days earlier than usual, with an average of 12.6 inches of snow-water equivalent, and have been shrinking fast in the face of record-high temperatures in recent days. That’s a far cry from two years ago, when Utah snowpacks were twice as thick as normal in some places.
“Utah’s poor snowpack conditions, extremely dry soils, and low antecedent streamflow are expected to impact runoff conditions,” states the monthly report compiled by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. “Streamflow forecasts for April to July snowmelt runoff volume are generally between 25% and 70% of average.” The report is based on data gathered at 135 sites, known as Snotel stations, around the state. With soils far drier than normal, some of this spring’s runoff is expected to be absorbed into the ground before reaching reservoirs. Soils are currently, on average, 40% saturated, or about two-thirds of normal.
To make matters worse, Utah reservoirs are already depleted, currently at 69% capacity, or 14 percentage points lower than last year. Gunnison Reservoir in the San Pitch Basin is pretty much empty, while many others in the hardest-hit southwestern reaches of the state are less than half full, or more than half empty, depending on how you prefer to look at it.
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According to new research from the University of Colorado, early runoff — more evidence of the planet’s warming climate — is becoming a growing problem across the West. The study examined data from 1,065 Snotel sites going back 40 years. Melt occurring before April 1 had increased at more than half these site by an average of 3.5% per decade, according to the paper posted Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change. In fact, snow appears to be melting throughout the winter in many places, meaning there will be less water available for use later in the summer.
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https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/04/07/yes-we-just-had-storm/
