Feb 1, 2017, southern Sierra snow survey
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:39 pm
Hi all
We have now completed the Feb 1 snow surveys for the southern Sierra and as you all have probably guessed, there is a lot of snow. In fact, there is more snow then ever recorded in many locations to date. This is mostly due to the fact that very few high country surveys were completed Feb 1 during the record storm event of 1969. The harrowing story of the two snow surveyors caught at Big Whitney cabin during the '69 event is told in the log books and in Armstrong' "A Snow surveyors log". The data they recorded from the Big Whitney course shows that '69 was indeed a bigger event.
That said, the Kings and Kern drainages are at a whopping 217% and 271% to date and 132% and 165% respectively for the entire season. How this plays out for the rest of the season is to be seen; there have been years when winter has just "shut" off in which case the Sierra can still end up below 100% by April 1. While possible, it is highly unlikely as another series of ARs is about to wallop us with another 7 to 12 inches of water (7-12 feet of snow).
For comparison, the graph below shows where we stand compared to other years including the record year of 1983. Note the graph only shows 127% of April 1, this is due to the fact the northern watersheds covered in the graph (Tuolumne, Merced and San Joaquin) are not as "fat" as the southern most drainages. Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks
We have now completed the Feb 1 snow surveys for the southern Sierra and as you all have probably guessed, there is a lot of snow. In fact, there is more snow then ever recorded in many locations to date. This is mostly due to the fact that very few high country surveys were completed Feb 1 during the record storm event of 1969. The harrowing story of the two snow surveyors caught at Big Whitney cabin during the '69 event is told in the log books and in Armstrong' "A Snow surveyors log". The data they recorded from the Big Whitney course shows that '69 was indeed a bigger event.
That said, the Kings and Kern drainages are at a whopping 217% and 271% to date and 132% and 165% respectively for the entire season. How this plays out for the rest of the season is to be seen; there have been years when winter has just "shut" off in which case the Sierra can still end up below 100% by April 1. While possible, it is highly unlikely as another series of ARs is about to wallop us with another 7 to 12 inches of water (7-12 feet of snow).
For comparison, the graph below shows where we stand compared to other years including the record year of 1983. Note the graph only shows 127% of April 1, this is due to the fact the northern watersheds covered in the graph (Tuolumne, Merced and San Joaquin) are not as "fat" as the southern most drainages. Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks