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Christopher Onstott / Cedar City Neighborhoods |
DUCK CREEK — Let it snow. Let it snow. And let it snow some more.
Much like it did in 2005. Heavy snow that fell in December has experts hopeful that Southern Utah is in for a year reminiscent of four years ago when the region was hit hard by constant heavy snowfall.
The key now, though, is whether or not the recent storms will continue.
“We started out like this in 2005 and kept right on going,” said hydrologist Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor for the United States Natural Resource Conservation Department. “When you see this, you just want to sit back and quietly reminisce about the good times.”
For sure, Southern Utah is off to a great start as evidenced by the moisture levels that have been registered so far.
“We have three measuring sights,” explained Julander. “Right now, Midway Valley is at 148 percent of its average and the site on Kolob is at 175 percent of its average.
“Then, the one at Webster Flat is at 151 percent. Everything is above 150 percent and there are no problems at this point.”
Julander explained that accumulation can come in fits and spurts. The key, however, is that offsetting the drought which has gripped the southwest can only be accomplished only by consistent snow and rainfall totals.
“This year has started out much like last year,” Julander said adding that heavy snowfall in December and January was followed by a relatively dry period. Meteorologist Linda Cheng, of the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City, concurred with Julander.
“With the weather, sometimes we have trends and that depends on the large scale cycles,” Cheng said. “I can’t say for sure that heavy snowfall happens every other year, but we certainly did have a pretty good December for snowfall. As we head into late January and February, we tend to see a decrease in storm activity.”
Whether there will be a decline or increased snowfall is not easily discerned, Julander said.
“Nobody has a handle on what’s going to happen this year,” he said. “We’re about halfway from where we need to be by April 1. There is always the possibility that we could have a dry month between now and April 1.”
The importance of a strong winter is also key when combating the bark beetle, which has killed hundreds of thousands of trees dating back about six years.
“What we’d really like to see to kill the beetles is minus- 30 degree temperatures for several days,” Julander said. “When that happens, it kills the larvae of the beetle. The longer and the colder it becomes the higher the mortality for the bugs.”
Cedar City Bureau Chief Jennifer Weaver contributed to this story.
Mike Henle is a Las Vegas-based freelance writer and author of the book “Through the Darkness: One Man’s Fight to Overcome Epilepsy.” He can be contacted at mhenle@aol.com or through his Web site www.mikehenle.com.
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