2017 summer water supply and availability predicted by NRCS

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Snow Survey and Water Forecasting team in Colorado recently hosted its annual Snow Survey and Water Forecasting media tour. Each year, the team takes members of the press up to one of the state’s 97 manual snow courses to report the most recent findings. Participants also see firsthand how snow is collected and measured for water availability predictions.

“The 2016-2017 snow season has been unpredictable at best. April and May are the months were we see most of our precipitation for the year, about 21 percent,” said Brian Domonkos, NRCS Snow Survey supervisor. “So we’re in a pivotal position right now. Poor precipitation in March isn’t a great start to our most pivotal point.”

Colorado is known for its unpredictable weather patterns. The element of surprise is also a consideration when attempting to forecast water availability across the state.  

“The bottom line is, across the state, we need moisture if we are to remain above normal,” Domonkos went on to say. “Although we got a great deal of snow through January, we’ve not had much since. Those hearty storm systems early on allowed us to coast through February and March, but we’re now at a point where we are reliant on future precipitation.”
 

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.