The recent warm weather has made a lot of Utahns happy . . . but not water watchers.
"We have lost a tremendous amount from the snowpack in recent weeks. It concerns us," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service.With the exception of the Bear River drainage, the snowpack is generally in good shape statewide, Julander said Wednesday. But, compared to normal snow water content, the percentage of water in the snowpack dropped an average of 7 percent during the past week. In the southeastern drainage, the snowpack dropped 18 percentage points in one month.
The snowpack at higher elevations is generally in good condition, but "we are losing or have lost a majority of our low-elevation snowpack. Most of the declining snowpack is on south-facing slopes," Julander said.
He said surveyors had to wear snowshoes in only one area, the north slope of the Uintas, during their check on the snowpack last week.
"Normally, you have to wear snowshoes everywhere in the mountains this time of the year. But the snowpack is now so dense you can walk anywhere without snowshoes," Julander said.
In recent days and weeks, snowpack surveyors have noticed that the ground surface is wet, indicating that water from the snowpack is reaching the surface of the ground, a condition not normally prevalent this time of the year. And warmer temperatures and the lack of new snowfall is starting streamflow earlier than normal.
Julander said temperatures at higher mountain elevations have generally been in the 30s and 40s during the day. Under normal conditions, temperatures would be at freezing during the middle of the day, dropping to well below freezing at night.
Julander and natural resources hydrologist Ray Wilson visited the Deseret Peak wilderness area west of Tooele Feb. 24. Wearing T-shirts instead of coats and other cold-weather gear, the two hiked to the snow measuring site, located at 9,200 feet.
"It was unbelievably warm. Flies were out as we sat in the sun eating our lunch. The temperature was probably about 45 degrees," Julander said.
Julander says he doesn't anticipate a water shortage for most areas of the state because "we have a lot of snow at higher elevations. It will take quite a while for the snowpack to run off. My concern is now mostly on the Bear River drainage, where the snowpack keeps dropping. The last time I checked it was 88 percent. But the snowpack has been low for the past several years, which compounds the problem."
He said snowpack in other drainages throughout the state looks "pretty good, but we would like to see more snow. If the snow keeps melting at the present rate, and we don't get more snow or very little snow over the next month or so, we could be in trouble. We could be talking drought or water shortages in the northern half of the state. We need enough snowpack to last us through the year. We are now at only about 80 percent of the normal snow water content by April 1. That is the peak time for snowpack. The southern half of the state looks very good for snowpack," Julander said.
Most mountains in southern Utah have a big snowpack, which could result in flooding in areas such as southwestern Utah. But Julander said he doesn't think the potential for serious flooding is very high.
"We would have to have some very unusual temperatures and conditions such as a big storm with lots of rain that melted the snowpack in a hurry," Julander said.
Officials in that area may be concerned about flooding. "But the Santa Clara River channel, for example, can handle quite a bit of water. It has handled it in years past."
Dean Cox, Washington County emergency management director, said Wednesday he agrees with the assessment made by Julander.