Item: Climate Change Impacts on Utah's Central Wasatch Snowpacks
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Title: Climate Change Impacts on Utah's Central Wasatch Snowpacks
Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2016 Proceedings, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Authors:
- Rand Decker [ InterAlpine, Sedona, AZ, USA ] [ Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA ]
- Hugo Froyland [ InterAlpine, Sedona, AZ, USA ]
Date: 2016-10-02
Abstract: Climate change has resulted in winters that are much different than in previous decades. For the better part of 20 years, the central and southern Rocky Mountains of the western US have had less snow than normal and the distribution of snowpack is much different than the average. April 1st snowpack distributions are simulated for Utah's Central Wasatch Mountains for the previous 35 years. Comparing a given year to the 35 year average snowpack is interesting enough. More interesting is the difference between the average and any specific year's snowpack. Most of the last 20 years of drought have reduced snowpacks on all aspect and at all elevations compared to the average, but some years display an unanticipated result. In these cases most of the Central Wasatch Mountains, and especially south and west faces, and the alpine valley floors are in drought. However, the upper elevations have snowpacks that exceed the average snowpack by significant amounts. In these special instances most of the Central Wasatch Mountains have a typical drought signature, but there is snowpack in excess of the average at the upper elevations. In these cases, and unlike the drought years, the total amount of water in the Central Wasatch watersheds, stored as snowpack, is normal or more so, even though the actual distribution of the snowpack is anything but. Most of the Central Wasatch Mountains have a typical drought signature on south and west aspects, and the valley floors, but the upper elevations have enjoyed a snowpack that is well above the average.
Object ID: ISSW16_P3.09.pdf
Language of Article: English
Presenter(s):
Keywords: snowpack distribution, climate change, snowmelt, drought
Page Number(s): 972-974
Subjects: wasatch range ski areas snow cover distribution climate change
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