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One year ago, the basin’s snowpack was 109 percent of average.
The situation in the Big Horn River Basin was similar. Snow-water equivalent in that basin had declined to 89 percent of average, then jumped to 102 percent due to last week’s …
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Last week’s storms in northwest Wyoming reversed a downward trend in the snowpack in the Shoshone and Big Horn River basins and returned the water content in the snow to near average levels.
Storms in mid-November left the mountain snowpack in Wyoming well above average, but after a relatively snowless December, the snow-water equivalent in the Shoshone River Basin had declined from 119 percent of average on Nov. 21 to only 79 percent of average a week ago. Last week’s storm raised the snow-water equivalent in the basin to 98 percent of average.
One year ago, the basin’s snowpack was 109 percent of average.
The situation in the Big Horn River Basin was similar. Snow-water equivalent in that basin had declined to 89 percent of average, then jumped to 102 percent due to last week’s weather. Last Jan. 3, the snow pack in the basin was 105 percent of average.
The average is based on snowpack reports during the 30-year period from 1971 to 2000 and reflects snow reports from Snotel sites in the basin.
The snowpack in the two local basins is among the best in the state. Only the Powder-Tongue River Basin, where the snowpack is 123 percent of average, has a healthier snowpack at this point in the season.
Six other basins reported increases in snowpack this week. The snowpack declined in the Upper North Platte Basin and the Little Snake River Basin in south central Wyoming, and stayed the same in the Upper North Platte in the east and the Upper Bear River in the southwest. Statewide, the average snow-water equivalent was 88 percent of average, an increase from 80 percent a week ago.
In issuing this week’s report, Lee Hackleman, water supply specialist for the Conservation Service, said the storms were welcome after several weeks of declining snowpack around the state.
“Things are looking up,” Hackleman said. “We went up to 88 percent for the state, and January is forecast to be wet.”
The mild weather this week is expected to continue through the weekend, but a chance of snow in the mountains is forecast beginning Thursday (tonight) and lasting through Saturday.
