Contents
With plenty of seasonal rain and enough mountain snow to bury a giraffe, the Western U.S. is quickly getting back on its feet after years of drought that drained reservoirs and dried up rivers, lakes, and streams.
Experts like state climatologist Larry O’Neill, who chairs Oregon’s Drought Monitor Advisory Committee, say that these less severe drought conditions were put in place because there is a lot of snow on the mountains in the West.
Andy Bryant, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said that the snowpacks keep summer water supplies going and make streams better for wildlife.
Even though most of Oregon is still in some drought, things are getting better because the Oregon Cascades are still getting more than 1.5 times their average annual snowpack. But how does Oregon’s snowpack compare to the rest of the West?
The U.S. Forest Service snow depth map shows that many mountain ranges in the West have 10 to 20 feet or more of snow, but it’s unclear which areas have the most snow.
A List of some of the deepest snowpacks recorded in the West using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s automated snow monitoring sites to determine which state has the most snow.
Stay Alert and Prepared: Recent Weather Updates Remind Us of the Power of Nature-
- Mountain Snowpack in Oregon is 150% Over Normal
- How Scientists Measure Snowpack and Why Itβs Important in Central Oregon?
Oregon
- Mt Hood: 15.5 feet
- Upper McKenzie River in the Willamette National Forest: 14.8 feet
- Crater Lake: 14.3 feet
- Taylor Butte, Willamette National Forest: 11.1 feet
- Little Meadows south of Detroit Lake: 11 feet
Washington
- Mount St. Helens: 18 feet
- Mount Rainier 15.5 feet
- Easy Pass, North Cascades: 13.9 feet
- Surprise Lakes: 10.75 feet
- White Pass Ski Area: 10.5 feet
California
- Leavitt Lake: 21.7 feet
- Meadow Lake: 21.6 feet
- Lake Tahoe: 19 feet
- Burnt Corral Meadows: 17.4 feet
- Gianelli Meadow: 17.4 feet
Idaho
- Bear Mountain: 22 feet
- Elk Butte: 19.8 feet
- Franklin Basin: 18.9 feet
- Chocolate Gulch: 13.5 feet
- Lost Lake 11.8 feet
Nevada
- Big Creek Peak: 16.5 feet
- Mt. Rose Ski Area: 15.4 feet
- Hole in the Mountain Peak: 9.4 feet
- Granite Peak: 9 feet
- Pearl Peak: 8.8 feet
Utah
- Alta Basin: 19.6 feet
- Clear Creek: 18.3 feet
- Monte Cristo: 16.6 feet
- Farmington: 16.5 feet
- Buck Flat: 16.2 feet
I have lived in Oregon for 79 years and have seen Cycles of weather changes throughout the years. When βManβ thinks they can control Mother Nature, Mother Nature strikes back! I was taught that our weather would change as the βtilt of the earth changes β!
When I was a kid, we had lots of Snow in the winter, then in the late β60βs early β70βs , we had a lot of Snow again. The difference now is, βManβ thinks they can change βMother Natureβ, and that will never happen.
Now they wast millions of tax payers dollars creating all these βJobsβ for bureaucrats and βMother Natureβ is going to βWin Outβ every time!
These βWeather Changesβ have been going on for decades and decades and during all of these decades, βfishβ still come up or rivers and we still have fish to eat! And if one species of fish dye out, βMother Natureβ will supply us with another species!
But, that is what is going on, bureaucratic think they need to βcontrol manβ and not believing βMother Natureβ will take care of us βjust fineβ!