2011 Snowpack vs. Record Breaking + Flood Watch

[accadacca]

Is June skiing common? Seems extreme to me. When does the bird normally close and what is the record?

[Dr. Nebz]

Is June skiing common? Seems extreme to me. When does the bird normally close and what is the record?

As far as I know, July 4th is the latest day they have ran lift operated riding at Snowbird. The latest lifts I have ridden at Snowbird was June 22nd 07/08 season. Last season I rode lifts till June 13th. We are currently sitting on 739" which is currently the record for Snowbird. I imagine it will be weekends only up there until the 4th of July. We would need a serious heat wave to melt all of that snow sooner than that, and at the rate we are going, not gonna happen any time soon.

[canyonphile]

There's snow on my lawn this morning though it's just a nasty, crusty and thin layer kind of snow. It's a sure bet that the mountains got pounded last night.

There was a little bit here in town this morning, and the nearby hills and lower mountains (Perins Peak, Smelter Mtn.) got more than a dusting of snow.

Saw a picture earlier today of Rocky Mtn Nat. Park with 23' of snow still on the ground. At least in that area, the drainage is to the Colorado, which I suspect can shoulder a much greater melt load than some of these other rivers, and I imagine the effect on the water levels in Lake Powell will be profound. Boaters, if no one else, will be happy about that.

It's pounding rain and sleet right now in town , and I'm sure the mountains must be getting hammered with snow.

[moab mark]

Just got an email from SL Sheriff that LLC is closed from 1 to 3 for avalanche work.

[Scott P]

Is June skiing common?

It is as Snowbird, or at least used to be (weekends only).

As far as I know, July 4th is the latest day they have ran lift operated riding at Snowbird.

Do you know the years by chance? It would be some interesting info to know how many times it has happened. Almost surely this year as well.

I do know the earliest opening for a ski resort in Utah (October 1 1986 at Powder Mt.).

The latest lifts I have ridden at Snowbird was June 22nd 07/08 season. Last season I rode lifts till June 13th. We are currently sitting on 739" which is currently the record for Snowbird. I imagine it will be weekends only up there until the 4th of July.

Some years in the early to mid 90's, they used to close during May for a while then open up skiing Memorial weekend for weekends only until July 4 or until the snow ran out. In the 1980's, it seems that they used to let you take skis on the tram regardless of the time of year and skiing on July 4th was a tradition for some people (our next door neighbors use to do it), regardless if the snow reached the bottom of the hill or not (some years it did and some it didn't). I'm guessing that they don't let people do that anymore? I would be kind of surprised if they did.

In 1993 you could ski year round outside the resorts. Even by September there was still plenty of snow around. There were even some snowbanks in the Wasatch that survived below 7000 feet the entire year in a few isolated locations(!). Despite the snow, 1993 never did have much flooding though since it never did warm up quickly. It was the coldest summer on record, so it just was slow to melt. The next year, 1994 was so horribly dry and hot though that it not only melted the previous year's snow, but it even melted all the snow on the surface of the Timp Glacier for (apparently?) the first time in recorded history (it also happened in 2002 and 2003). 1992 was also a dry year, so wet years can be sandwhiched between dry ones (or vice versa).

We would need a serious heat wave to melt all of that snow sooner than that, and at the rate we are going, not gonna happen any time soon.

Some long term forecast are predicting a hot spell at the end of May (near 90 for SLC and low 80's here). If it does happen that way, it going to really flood (thinking of river running Memorial weekend). Even if it does melt some of the snow, there will still be plenty of snow around through July in some locations.

[accadacca]

It is STILL raining too. I heard that a bunch of the reservoirs are already full or nearly. Any truth to that? My Mom was at Bear Lake and said there isn't much beach left on our property. It has been diminishing for several years, but this year the lake might just fill up again or get very close? Crazy times!!

[moab mark]

It is STILL raining too. I heard that a bunch of the reservoirs are already full or nearly. Any truth to that? My Mom was at Bear Lake and said there isn't much beach left on our property. It has been diminishing for several years, but this year the lake might just fill up again or get very close? Crazy times!!

The news letter that we get at Bear Lake said it should raise 6 ft which should bring it up the sand a bit.

[accadacca]

Hopefully we can sync up for a ride this year Mark. My new Katoom is much more worthy on that single track or at least faster.

[Dr. Nebz]

If it does hit 90 degrees end of May like Scott P saw in a long term prediction, it is gonna flood like you have never seen.

[moab mark]

Hopefully we can sync up for a ride this year Mark. My new Katoom is much more worthy on that single track or at least faster.

Right after I posted my last entry my Dad called and said that he just go back up to the lake and it had moved up the beach 30' since last Saturday. The Bear River must be motoring.
Probably going to head up over Memorial Day but I doubt there will be much single track that won't still need my sled.

[BruteForce]

We normally camp in the mountains just North and West of Richfield every mid-May. This year, we're finding there's still 49 inches of snow on the ground (where in years past, there's been almost none). 14 new inches of snow yesterday alone!

[Scott P]

If it does hit 90 degrees end of May like Scott P saw in a long term prediction, it is gonna flood like you have never seen.

Of course long term forecast change (sometimes daily) and aren't as accurate as the short term ones, but check this one out as of this morning:

http://www.accuweather.com/us/ut/sal...cast-month.asp

http://www.accuweather.com/us/co/cra...cast-month.asp

[oldno7]

Interesting graph


http://snowpack.water-data.com/uppercolorado/index.php

[accadacca]

Jordan River. Not passing here today...

[Scott P]

Alta set a new daily snowdepth record for May 20 (see chart at beginning of thread). Today was probably a record as well and I'll update the results as soon as the data becomes available.

[Dr. Nebz]

I rode the Bird today, and was getting fluffy turns from the peak down to about 8,000 ft from this last storm before the snow was temperature affected. It was getting really warm in Mineral Basin, I imagine that with the warm up expected later this week, that snow will start to melt.

[Scott P]

A new daily record snow depth was set at Alta for May 22 (beating out 1983 by 2"), but the database is being slow to be updated (it looks like the data collector missed May 21).

The heat wave that used to be predicted for next week has disappeared off the forecast, but that's not that surprising.

[rmoat]

I live close to the Provo River near the Provo River Trail and there is a section where the trail travels under two roads (University Pkwy) and is separated from the river by a cement wall (probably around 3 to 4 feet high). As of last night, the river is less than 6 inches from spilling over the top and flooding that entire section of the Provo River trail. I saw that Provo city already has blockades with signs on them saying "Closed due to high water" set aside of the trail. Pretty soon, I imagine it will be flooded. Further down the trail there is already a section where it goes underneath a bridge where it has already flooded.
I took a drive down near Utah Lake where the river enters the lake, and most of the fields around are now ponds. There is also one section of the trail that travels right next to the lake, where a small stream feeds into Utah Lake, or perhaps it was just a trench/canal which is fed from Utah Lake for irrigation (not sure which), and Provo City has already filled it in with dirt and sand bagged it. They have also parked a tractor connected to a pump that is in the canal, and it looks like they've occasionally been running the tractor to pump the water back into Utah lake.
Haven't ever seen the water this high, especially since some of the Provo River Trail already has been or will be underneath the water.

[accadacca]

These videos were taken on the 17th.

[rmoat]

Wow! Quite a bit of water. That Jordan River picture you posted above, is that up in the Lehi/Thanksgiving Point area?