The Official Drought Thread

[USUC]

KSL has the state at 91% but I'm not sure how they get their numbers. Northern Utah is sitting great right now. Logan has something like 120%.

[Jeff Lebowski]

UPDATE: After a very wet February, Utah is now up to 83% of normal snowpack. California has gone from disaster-of-biblical-proportions to catastrophic.

I found a very cool website with up-to-date data in case anyone is interested.

http://cires.colorado.edu/~aslater/SNOW/

Click on the state in one of the menus on the left and then click on one of the dots to see snow depth vs time at selected stations. For example, here is one from Utah:



The red line is current year. The other lines are from all other years. The mean is somewhere in the middle. This is what a typical california station looks like:



Notice the little bump in Feb/Mar? That helps, but still unbelievably low.

If you click on the Seasonal Rank Status link, you get a color map of water storage vs location. As you can see, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado are in great shape. Cali and southern Oregon is a disaster.

Expect food prices to be very high this year.

[splitbamboo]

Idaho is still one area code? Or does Boise have another?

We just moved up into the panhandle--60 miles from the border--and we've inherited the 208...

[USUC]

Central Utah now up to 100% of normal.

But California still in a world of hurt. Amazing that there is such a big difference.

I hope we get another couple of good storms in. This is the last year that the secondary water on my family's property won't be metered. I have to take advantage of this with the garden before it gets too expensive to do it on a larger scale. I need there to be enough secondary water to make through September.

[byu71]

Just ask them if they've ever putted on a dirt green.

Here is what I see eventually happening. We have had these water rights since the 50's. We can afford to dredge out the lakes we have and build capacity or build a well.

If serious rationing eventually comes the neighbors probably will be pissed as their lawns burn up and we are watering. I can see them bringing Obama out to give a speech on equality. These CC folks didn't earn those water rights!!!

[RC Vikings]

I really hope we get ahead. I am in charge of the Capital budget and I don't know how much it costs to build a well.

I think I will google it. Accessing people is no fun.

Just ask them if they've ever putted on a dirt green.

[byu71]

Three very different regions all united with one code.

The Honor Code? Not that clever, but I am really getting bored and also anxious for Spring.

[RC Vikings]

Idaho is still one area code? Or does Boise have another?

Three very different regions all united with one code.

[byu71]

Snowpack accumulation peaks in mid- to late-March. Not out of the woods yet, but much better at this point than the prior two years.

I really hope we get ahead. I am in charge of the Capital budget and I don't know how much it costs to build a well.

I think I will google it. Accessing people is no fun.

[Topper]

It may be cold in the eastern half of the 208 but we will have water. I've got two feet of snow on my yard and more coming this week. The potatoes will get water, the farmers will make money and the entire upper Snake River Valley will be a little better off.

Idaho is still one area code? Or does Boise have another?

[RC Vikings]

Targhee is leading all intermountain western ski resorts in snow this year. I think the irrigated farmers who pull off the Snake River system will be OK. While the San Joaquin Valley burns, RC Vikings and I will proclaim: "LET THEM EAT SPUDS!"

I have seen dust storms in January. I will lose weight on behalf of our local farmers, but nobody ever fasts for folks to pay for their telco services!

It may be cold in the eastern half of the 208 but we will have water. I've got two feet of snow on my yard and more coming this week. The potatoes will get water, the farmers will make money and the entire upper Snake River Valley will be a little better off.

[Topper]

That's great, I mean for Utah. Ogden-Weber is 95%. When does the water year end. I guess if it goes a few more months we could easily drop back to bad numbers.

There is some momentum for us building a well on the golf course. It would be a disaster to run out of water.

Las Vegas needs the Rockies to have a great snowpack, thank you very much. New York not so much.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That's great, I mean for Utah. Ogden-Weber is 95%. When does the water year end. I guess if it goes a few more months we could easily drop back to bad numbers.

There is some momentum for us building a well on the golf course. It would be a disaster to run out of water.

Snowpack accumulation peaks in mid- to late-March. Not out of the woods yet, but much better at this point than the prior two years.

[byu71]

Central Utah now up to 100% of normal.

But California still in a world of hurt. Amazing that there is such a big difference.

That's great, I mean for Utah. Ogden-Weber is 95%. When does the water year end. I guess if it goes a few more months we could easily drop back to bad numbers.

There is some momentum for us building a well on the golf course. It would be a disaster to run out of water.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Central Utah now up to 100% of normal.

But California still in a world of hurt. Amazing that there is such a big difference.