Oregon Snowpack Above Normal As Precipitation Sets Records

It's hard to imagine that there's a lot of good of to say about "limited sunshine and continued cold temperatures" - just ask anyone living in the Portland metro region who made it through record rain in February - but ask the scientists at the Department of Agriculture and they will tell you there is.

HAVE PATCH EMAIL YOU ALL THE LATEST NEWS

The record amount of precipitation has the state's snowpack at above-normal levels throughout most of the state, the department's Natural Resources Conservation Service announced Tuesday.

All of the "limited sunshine and continued cold temperatures" in February put the state's snowpack at an average of 138 percent above normal.

The last time that the state had a well above normal snowpack this late in the year was 2008 when the snowpack was 157 percent.

Last year, the snowpack was only 94 percent of normal at the end of February.

“Snow accumulation during February was twice the normal amount at many monitoring locations, leading to a well-above-normal statewide snowpack on March 1,” said Scott Oviatt, NRCS snow survey supervisory hydrologist. “Moderate February temperatures helped preserve the deep snowpack even during a few warm days and significant rain in some cases."

The service says that the peak of snow accumulation generally occurs during March for many low and mid elevation sites in the state.

So far, they say, snow monitoring sites in this elevation band have already met or surpassed normal peak snowpack amounts. In general, the higher elevation sites have not met their normal peak amount as they do not typically reach peak until April.

The service, which collects data from 149 sites around the state, says that its measurements are used for communities, water managers, and recreationalists.

Images USDA