Snowpack, Water and Drought: What’s Up with the Weather

This talk will cover this year’s snowpack and projected water supplies. We’ll look at early season winter outlooks and analog years for this winter. We’ll discuss the warm temperatures from last fall and early winter that caused much of the precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow.

We’ll also discuss last year’s runoff in Idaho and how the record dry spring impacted the runoff. We’ll look at temperature trends across different elevations in Idaho and discuss why some snowpacks are doing better this year in the higher elevations.

You'll learn about snow and streamflow relationships that are used to predict runoff volumes and timing of snowmelt peak flows. The key is if the past can still be used to predict the future in a changing climate with a greater degree of climatic variability

Sponsored by Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology (IMMG), 2455 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise. Members of IMMG and children - free admission, Nonmembers of IMMG $5. Pre-registration is required.

About Ron Abramovich:

Ron graduated from Colorado State University with a BS degree in Watershed Sciences in 1986. Worked for the USGS in southern Colorado chasing thunderstorms to collect runoff samples for the expansion of Fort Carson military base. Moved to Telluride, Colorado for the winter and met his wife Janice, a ski coach. In May 1988 he accepted a full-time job and moved to Salt Lake City to work for the USDA Soil Conservation Service Snow Survey Office.

In August of 1991, the Idaho Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey Office advertised the first ever Water Supply Specialist position. Ron applied, got it and the best job anyone could have.

He worked as Idaho’s Snow Survey Water Supply Specialist from 1991 to 2019 providing snow survey and water supply information to the many users that rely on Idaho’s annual snowfall and water supply. His work took him to the pretest locations in Idaho to check the snowpack. His work with end users across the state provided him with a better understanding of Idaho's complex hydrology and the decision information needed to wisely manage and use water as a natural resource.

Follow Ron’s other presentations here. https://snowweatherandflow.blog/

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