How's your snowpack looking?

[mtwarden]

We had a thread last year, time to update for this year's.

Montana isn't looking too bad, especially considering we had one of the driest December ever recorded. The East Front of the Rockies could use some help, but with some recent snow the rest of the state is looking decent. We, the Upper Missouri, for the first time made it to 90% of normal with the rest of the state near that mark.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Where did you get this map?

 

[mtwarden]

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-...water-supply-forecasting-program/snowpack-and

 

[Pony Soldier]

Dancing on the edge of normal. About mid-thigh in the yard. Lots of ice chrystals.

Saw a horse going through a field last week. The snow was about 6" below the chest. Good time to feed the stove.

 

[dtrkyman]

I think New Mexico is at 55%, on pace for a record low I believe, not good! We had good snow last year but early run off and crazy hot summer took care of that!

 

[downthepipe]

Idaho is looking good. Canals already filling. Great ski year.

 

[BBob]

AZ & NM not so good.

 

[AZ8]

AZ & NM not so good.
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Definitely a disappointing winter, but I have an elk tag in my pocket and still excited! September will come quick!

 

[elkhunter505]

We had a thread last year, time to update for this year's.

Montana isn't looking too bad, especially considering we had one of the driest December ever recorded. The East Front of the Rockies could use some help, but with some recent snow the rest of the state is looking decent. We, the Upper Missouri, for the first time made it to 90% of normal with the rest of the state near that mark.

Thanks for sharing the entire MT map! Live in Missoula so at the junction of 98, 91, and 95 it looks like. Good to see the Musselshell so high. In that sense, did anyone see large pronghorn winter kill out there? If not, I would bet that is good news for those populations to get some good forage and bounce back a little bit this year.

 

[Tilzbow]

A good resource to monitor the precipitation situation:


https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

 

[mtwarden]

AZ & NM not so good.
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My buddy is currently about a third of the way into the Arizona Trail; he got injured a couple of years ago so giving it another go.

The year he went, AZ (NM) had record snowfall and everywhere he went there were creeks/springs flowing—this year he's packing a ton of water and just yesterday told me he had to purify water from what basically was a mud puddle I think it will improve, at least slightly, the further north he goes.

 

[Weldor]

AZ & NM not so good.
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Non-existant in AZ. Dry Dry Dry. Hope we can recover with a good monsoon season.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

Headwaters of the Colorado are at 100%. BUT this year is not indicative of the "actual" pack. The SWE stations at the high elevations are above the median but this year has been very strange. The valleys and up to 10k feet on west facing slopes are completely dry. Usually we have 1-2 ft everywhere this time of year.

We had a very above average temperature in February which caused almost everything to run off over a month early. It would be nice to normalize for the lack of SWE at the lower elevations within the basin.

 

[AZ8]

My buddy is currently about a third of the way into the Arizona Trail; he got injured a couple of years ago so giving it another go.

The year he went, AZ (NM) had record snowfall and everywhere he went there were creeks/springs flowing—this year he's packing a ton of water and just yesterday told me he had to purify water from what basically was a mud puddle I think it will improve, at least slightly, the further north he goes.

Born and raised here. Dry winters are a way of life in the desert SW. Occasionally, we’ll have a wet winter here and a wet winter there. But dry and arid is the predominant climate here. We’re always in a perpetual drought, but wet winters are a blessing! The monsoons are a bit more reliable, but even they can be finicky. Fortunately, our winters are mild compared to our friends to the north, so the animals aren’t as stressed.

The late 70’s into the 80’s were the heyday for deer, elk, quail….it was a very wet period here.

Good luck to your buddy! Hope he completes the trail before the furnace is turned on! lol