Southern Oregon snowpack breaks a record

4/1/2008

The Associated Press

MEDFORD , Ore. (AP) — Oregon 's heavy winter has left the often-dry southern part of the state with a generous, even stunning, topping of snow.

Snow ranger Steve Johnson has been taking measurements for 20 years, but he couldn't believe what he saw Monday at the Siskiyou Summit on the Oregon California border.

The snow-water content where Interstate 5 tops the Siskiyous near the California border was 559 percent of normal. The measurement of 17.9 inches broke a 56-year-old record of 17.4 inches for the end of March.

"I took a couple of extra measurements to see if I read it right," he said. "Then, when I came back down from higher on the mountain, I took two more measurements. They all came out the same."

The snow-water content measurement reflects how much water the snow contains and is an important indicator of how much water is being stored naturally for summer stream flows and reservoir storage — for fish, for water skiers, for fruits and grains, for city water systems.

Snow surveyors measure the water content by pushing a hollow tube through the snow to the ground and then weighing the snow core sample.

Ten samples are taken at each site. Beginning each winter at the end of December, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service team up to take snow measurements in Oregon 's mountains through the end of April.

Readings in other parts of Oregon have been heavy, as well, and Johnson said there are other heavy readings in Southern Oregon .

"We're sitting really good for summer water right now," he said.

Remote snow telemetry measuring devices report the Oregon coastal range sites are currently 430 percent of normal for snow-water content, he said.

The snowpacks in the mountains ringing the Rogue and Umpqua basins are currently at 143 percent of normal for snow-water content, he said. Last year at the end of March the water in those snow packs was at 78 percent of normal, he said.

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Source:  http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/news-23/

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