NRCS Fisher SNOTEL History

From Lucas Zukiewicz, SNOTEL guru. A history of big storm events at Fisher Creek site.

1971 – From 11/23/70 to 12/5/71 SWE at Fisher increased from 7.2” to 15.5”. 8.8” 14 day storm total.

The unique part of 1971 was the consistency of the snowfall throughout the winter. 30 day totals for each month were substantial. From 1/6/71 to 2/4/71 the SNOTEL site received 16.2” of SWE. This 30 day period saw continuous snowfall with the average daily snowfall rate being 0.5”. Certain days exceeded 1.9” of SWE.

In terms of total snow water equivalent, 1971 is the most SWE on record at Fisher Creek. The peak matches 1997, but the additional snowfall after the beginning of melt brings total SWE into record category.

1986 – From 2/10 to 2/25 SWE at Fisher increased from 21.8” to 33.9”. 12.1” 14 day storm total

1997- From 12/23/96 to 1/4/97 SWE at Fisher increased from 23.4” to 36.8”. 13.4” 14 day storm total

1997 – The monthly total SWE from 12/1/1996 to 1/1/1997 was 18.8” of SWE. All-time Record.

I think what’s notable about 1997 is the consistent and considerable snowfall from mid-November until around the 1^st of the year. AND it kept snowing until May. Not a lot of time between storms to develop weak layers…just TONS (literally) of snow. Amazing fun fact, from 11/14/96 to 1/14/97 Fisher Creek picked up 34.6” of SWE. The normal peak SWE value for the entire year is 34.4”. That’s a whole winter’s worth of water in 2 months…

2017 – From 1/30/2017 to 2/11/2017 SWE at Fisher increased from 18.3” to 29.2”. 10.9” storm total.

So while the snow we just had wasn’t record breaking, it was pretty close. 3^rd highest 14 day total on record at Fisher.

1986 and 2017 are similar in that they occurred in February with time between storms…plenty of time for things to change and setup in the snowpack.