Remember the first few weeks of January? Snow-covered mountain passes, . Not great for travelers, but pretty helpful to the region鈥檚 snowpack, which is a vital source of water in the spring and summer.
At the start of 2020, the situation looked dismal. After a dry start to the season, Washington and Oregon had less than half the amount of snow they鈥檇 normally see in the mountains.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really a New Year鈥檚 Celebration for a climatologist,鈥� said Karin Bumbaco,at the University of Washington.
The amount of water in Washington鈥檚 snowpack measured at 48% of normal; Oregon鈥檚 was 45%.
Then came the first few weeks of January. Washington鈥檚 snowpack is now at 98% of normal; Oregon鈥檚 is 97%. Idaho has normal amounts of snowpack, . National models show February could be colder than normal for the region.
Quite the relief, Bumbaco said.
鈥淲e knew that it was going to be at least a snowy start to the month, but I鈥檓 not sure anyone really predicted that much of a comeback,鈥� she said.
The first two weeks of January brought record gains in Washington鈥檚 snow-depth, Bumbaco said. Some storms brought rain to the mountains, but that didn鈥檛 melt away too much snow, she said.
Lower elevation spots in Washington鈥檚 central Cascades are dragging down the snowpack average, Bumbaco said.
According to most of Oregon and parts of eastern Washington are abnormally to moderately dry.
It鈥檚 still early in the season to know more about long-term effects, said Scott Oviatt, snow survey supervisor with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Oregon.
鈥淚t does make a big rebound. We just need continued cooler temperatures and continued storm impacts in order to maintain the momentum we have now,鈥� Oviatt said.
He said it鈥檚 still too soon to predict how the snowpack will affect spring and summer snowmelt runoff, as well as wildfire conditions.
These recent snowpack measurements are only indicative of where things should be in January, not at the end of the season, when snowpack usually peaks around April 1. More mountain snow still needs to fall before then.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 just stop now and be fine for the spring and summer,鈥� Bumbaco said.
Turning to February, national models suggest the Northwest could have cooler than normal temperatures 鈥� great news for snowpack to stay frozen, Bumbaco said.
鈥淩eally by Feb. 1, you want to have a good snowpack in the mountains,鈥� Bumbaco said. 鈥淗ere we are, a couple days away from Feb. 1. We鈥檙e near normal. We鈥檙e really in great shape, especially compared to some of our recent years, where we鈥檝e had below normal snowpack all season.鈥�
Copyright 2020