Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The Weather Whiplash of the 2021/22 Season

I hope you enjoyed the Gift from the Gods last weekend.  What a long strange trip this season has been.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  Weather whiplash for sure.

I'll summarize with the Snowbird SNOTEL measured snow water equivalent (SWE) of the snowpack.  At this elevation, the season got off to a good start with SWE increase of 4.7" from October 8 to October 27.  

Then the spigot turned off and we only added 1.3" from October 27 to December 9.  The snow faceted on the north half of the compass, forming a persistent weak layer that would haunt us for a significant part of the winter and in many areas melted out on the south side.  

The storm track returned in December and Mother Nature added 15.7" of SWE to the snowpack through January 7.  That was a pretty good run and the only period outside of October that the snow accumulation rate that exceeded climatological expectations [i.e., the slope of the median (green) line] for more than a few days.  

We then lived on that snow until early March.  From January 7 to March 5, Mother Nature only added a scant 2.1" to the snowpack.  I have heard rumors it was the least snowy February on record at Alta.  I haven't seen the numbers for Alta Guard yet, but before this year, the minimum there was 34" and the resort reported 26" based on their snowfall history page, so chances are we set that dubious record.  

From March 5 through today, we've seen a series of storms interspersed with ablation (snow loss) events.  The SWE trace (black line) during this period shows ups and downs.  In the net, the SWE increased about 10.2" during this period, a rate that was still less than median for the period.  However, if my calculations are correct, the Snowbird lost 2.4" of SWE during those ablation events.  Without those losses, the accumulation for the period would have been 12.6", very close to the median SWE increase for the period of 13.1".  

I see that period from March 5 to April 25 as perhaps an example of the future Wasatch spring snow climate, with the snowpack ripening earlier, significant losses occurring on south aspects, and the frequency and severity of ablation events on north aspects increasing.  

My grade for the season is an incomplete.  I'd like to give it a C+, but due to a foot injury, I haven't done much skiing other than groomers since early February and had to sit out the storm cycle this weekend.  Thus I lack the ability to properly asses the season and encourage you to input your grade and justification in the comments below.  

10 comments:

  1. I’m not into grades but I would say Alta skied small and rugged

    ReplyDelete
  2. C- as I usually expect to be able to get 1000k in on the skinny skis at a bare minimum and I didn't quite make that due to the early end of the season.

    ReplyDelete
  3. C- sounds about right up here in Park City too. The only thing that kept it from being even worse was the Jan/Feb seemed like it was mostly pretty cold, so at least the December snow didn't melt too fast during the long dry spell.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was really good for one of the shittiest years! F+ with one gold star!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I’m an English major, so grading is subjective. My season was a solid B. I had fun for all of the day most days, some of the day some days, and only struck out once or twice. BoyCee had the same moisture curve except we missed a lot of the April cycle.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Against all odds a great nordic season and ok backcountry! A solid B.

    ReplyDelete
  7. So if Jordanell is currently at 51.79% and spring runoff amount now deemed 60% of usual, how full does it get? 80% maybe? asking for a paddler friend....

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm not sure about the season grade (C- if you must know) but you're use of both a Grateful dead and a Dickens reference in the same introductory paragraph earns you a solid A!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd go B- since there was plenty of soft snow to ski throughout the season, it just took significant creative effort to find those turns for a few weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm know I'm overstepping the whole point of this post, but I have to go with a solid B for some of the best / immediately accessible skiing on the planet.

    ReplyDelete