Friday, April 7, 2023

dry, dry again

 March will end like every other month this water year: below average.

We have three more days to catch up, but the forecast shows an inch at most through the 31st. Since we're down 1.8 inches that won't bring us to normal - so that's six consecutive dry months. This is also the end of our wet season, as April-Sep contribute about a quarter of the annual total here.

30yr normal and 2022-23 %
It's definitely not time for a drought alert, but it's definitely not been a wet year. The La Niña season is over, and El Niño is ready to take its place; these ENSO phases really have little effect in the dry season though.

Whatever is next, this has been a surprisingly consistent period of below-normal rainfall!

As to snow, it was a decent 3rd-place showing with just under two feet estimated. About two inches above the eight-year normal. As usual, February was the Big Snow Month; that's been true five of the eight years of record.



p.s.  forecast for Sunday night shows snow level dropping to 800' overnight, so the recent pattern remains in place.
More storms driving down the coast from Juneau, and headwinds for the northbound birds to endure. If they stay inland a bit more, perhaps a tailwind east of the low can be found!


Final score for March: exactly 75% of normal. Average is precisely 6.00" and we received 4.75" - that's impressive (albeit spurious) accuracy.



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