The statewide snowpack water equivalent, based on an average of all stations in Utah, peaked on April 1-2 at 18.8 inches and after fluctuating just below that value for about 10 days, has been steadily declining and now sits at 15 inches.
Source: NRCS |
The peak of 18.8 inches was 117.5% of the median peak of 16 inches, so it's been a decent snow year statewide.
The situation though varies depending on region and elevation. We'll focus here on the Wasatch Range. The lowest elevation SNOTEL site in the Wasatch is Ben Lomond Trail in the North Ogden Valley, which is at 5971 ft. The snowpack at Ben Lomond Trail also peaked on April 1–2. This is a snowy location, so the peak snowpack water equivalent was 28.4", more than 10" higher than the state average, despite the low elevation.
After April 8, the snowmelt at this site began in earnest and it has since shed a bit more than 10" of water, or a bit over a third of the snowpack.
Above this site at the Ben Lomond Peak SNOTEL site, which is at 7688 ft, the snowpack peaked at 53.4" where it sat at from April 8–11. It has declined only slightly since.
Source: NRCS |
Source: NRCS |
Given that forecasts look pretty dry for at least the next few days and mild to warm, I suspect it is safe to say that we are well past peak snowpack now in the mid elevations, are probably past peak on upper elevation south aspects, and are likely past peak on upper elevation north aspects.
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