Amar - how about the area in and around Mt. St. Helens that you are always amazed by exceptionally high snowpack #'s?
So, are you saying the lone beast of the S. Washington Cascades needs to get done earlier than the end of June this year? HAHAHA
Well, I just looked up the numbers for the sites on MSH, and calculated percent of normal. As with other locations in the WA Cascades this year, snowdepth peaked on March 1 following huge snowfall at the end of February. But I was surprised to find that the snowpack really did get decimated on MSH during March, much more so than other sites in the WA Cascades. Repeated periods of sunny weather farther south have taken their toll:
[tt]Mt St Helens SNOTEL Sites:
February 1, 2007
Sheep Canyon (W side) 4000 ft: 70", insufficient data for normals
Swift Creek (S side) 3800 ft: 66", 80% of normal
June Lake (SE side) 3300 ft: 72", 101% of normal
March 1, 2007
Sheep Canyon (W side) 4000 ft: 129", insufficient data for normals
Swift Creek (S side) 3800 ft: 146", 137% of normal
June Lake (SE side) 3300 ft: 137", 173% of normal
April 1, 2007
Sheep Canyon (W side) 4000 ft: 74", insufficient data for normals
Swift Creek (S side) 3800 ft: 90", 77% of normal
June Lake (SE side) 3300 ft: 79", 101% of normal[/tt]
Swift Creek normally gets much more snowpack than June Lake, about 50% more, but this year it has been just barely ahead. Sheep Canyon on the west side is normally much drier than either of the south side sites, but again, it is barely so this year.
Anyway, it certainly does look like things are rapidly melting out in the South Cascades, and that trips on MSH and Mt Adams would be best done sooner rather than later this year.
