Drought for the west

Raining now! Also have a very nasty storm heading my way with a tornado warning and the satellite just went out. Sirens in town just went off. House is rattling from the thunder. Still have power, though!
We ended up with several inchs in the last week. Tornado took a roof off a house in the township my BIL works in. He got called out to get it off the road.
 
We ended up with several inchs in the last week. Tornado took a roof off a house in the township my BIL works in. He got called out to get it off the road.
"Hey, can you please come and move your roof?" :ROFLMAO: We got missed by the bad weather and got .95 inches of rain. Went from 80 degrees and storms Tuesday to sleet and snow by noon Wednesday. Now they say 1-3 inches of snow Sunday night. 🤷‍♂️ Guess my Harley stays parked for a while.
 
Received an email this afternoon with the subject 'extremely anomalous March heat wave.'

"Many locations in southern California and the Southwest are expected to set records for the earliest 100F readings, in some cases by several weeks. The heat is expected to stretch into much of the Great Basin and central and southern High Plains late next week. In addition, relative humidity will be very low with poor overnight recovery expected for many low elevation areas. Conditions will be more representative of mid-June across the West and into portions of the Plains."

Probably not what many of you were looking for.


1773353926255.png
 
Received an email this afternoon with the subject 'extremely anomalous March heat wave.'

"Many locations in southern California and the Southwest are expected to set records for the earliest 100F readings, in some cases by several weeks. The heat is expected to stretch into much of the Great Basin and central and southern High Plains late next week. In addition, relative humidity will be very low with poor overnight recovery expected for many low elevation areas. Conditions will be more representative of mid-June across the West and into portions of the Plains."

Probably not what many of you were looking for.


View attachment 403798
El Niño forming already. Hopefully bring some early rain to the Southwest.
 
Fruit trees budding way too early. 66 today, breezy. Last hard frost, May 28th. 28 this morning.
Wildland fire watches up across the state.
Warmest,driest winter on record...1887.
Got some drizzle that went on across the midwest and got deadly.

Dotti on guard...barking at the bellydumps raising heavy dust clouds on county road half a mile away.
 
Double whammy in the emails this afternoon. NRCS weekly water supply update.

Summary:
"The snow drought experienced this winter has caused well-below normal streamflow forecasts throughout the western U.S. The NRCS SNOTEL network reports the lowest levels of snowpack from many stations in at least 40 years. Significant snowfall is expected in parts of the northwest through March 13 according to the National Weather Service, though the amount will not be enough to make up for the seasonal deficit. The spring and summer streamflow forecasts mirror the low snowpack conditions and are anticipating below to well-below median streamflow volumes throughout most of the West. Below-normal streamflow may lead to water restrictions and water shortages in some locations, especially in places without access to reservoir storage"

If it feels like this has been a warm winter for the west, you're not wrong:

1773364214700.png
 
Double whammy in the emails this afternoon. NRCS weekly water supply update.

Summary:
"The snow drought experienced this winter has caused well-below normal streamflow forecasts throughout the western U.S. The NRCS SNOTEL network reports the lowest levels of snowpack from many stations in at least 40 years. Significant snowfall is expected in parts of the northwest through March 13 according to the National Weather Service, though the amount will not be enough to make up for the seasonal deficit. The spring and summer streamflow forecasts mirror the low snowpack conditions and are anticipating below to well-below median streamflow volumes throughout most of the West. Below-normal streamflow may lead to water restrictions and water shortages in some locations, especially in places without access to reservoir storage"

If it feels like this has been a warm winter for the west, you're not wrong:

View attachment 403807
And our “blizzard of historic proportions” turned into a weak rain event. I’m sure higher elevations received snow but not at all what I was hoping for.
 
And our “blizzard of historic proportions” turned into a weak rain event. I’m sure higher elevations received snow but not at all what I was hoping for.

Certainly not worth closing schools for. Sounds like Essex did alright. Winds materialized in some places, just no snow. Still got a chance the next couple days for something.
 
6-7" and absolutely dumping here. I should plow for the first time this year. But my gravel is soft from the previous rain, and it's supposed to be 60+ next week. I think I'll just drive the truck for a few days instead of the car and let it melt away.
We have a couple of inches on the East side of the state. Looks like moisture is getting all the way across ID panhandle and into MT. Everything warms up next week, but every little bit helps.
 
The fat lady hasn’t sung yet!
Had 5” at the house this morning and a couple inches in Spokane Valley. Still snowing.
 
I'm making the pessimistic call that we have already peaked our statewide average snowpack in Colorado. Around a month early and at a record breaking low of 61% of median (50% of peak). Temps pushing 90 on the Front Range next week and after the likely record breaking heat wave it's essentially April.

Totally #@)(*%*.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
118,601
Messages
2,199,768
Members
38,593
Latest member
Bouhou
Back
Top