je.st
news
Tag: snowpack
California Snowpack Measure Could Reveal Future of Drought
2014-03-31 23:01:00| Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming Newsfeed
National Geographic: Surveyors will ski into the Sierra Nevada mountains Tuesday to perform what has become an anxiously watched rite of spring in drought-stricken California: measuring snow to determine how much water will flow to the state this year. A critical measure of a precious resource, April's survey will influence whether the state's water officials declare that the drought is easing or that it persists. At stake is the fate of summer water deliveries to farms and cities. elated: "Could California's Drought...
Tags: future
california
measure
reveal
Climate change affects Northwest snowpack, study says
2013-12-05 10:52:00| Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming Newsfeed
Spokesman-Review: Last weekends doozy of a storm followed a classic Northwest weather script. Winds gusting to 40 mph blew moisture-rich air from the ocean into the Cascades and Northern Rockies, dumping snow on the mountains while leaving lower elevations bare. The winds called winter westerlies are vital to a region that depends on mountain snowpack for its water supply. But a new study suggests that climate change is disrupting the winds, with stark implications for future water availability. Those...
Tags: change
study
northwest
climate
McKenzie River snowpack to drop by 56 percent due to global warming
2013-07-26 16:00:00| Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming Newsfeed
The Oregonian: A new study adds to a growing chorus of data that show that in a warmer world, Oregon could see more floods in winter and more droughts in summer. Oregon State University researchers simulated the effect of 2 degree Celsius increase on snow in the Cascade Range. Their findings -- published this month in the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences -- reveals that as more precipitation falls as rain instead of snow, peak snowpack in the McKenzie River watershed will drop an average of 56 percent....
How much water in that snowpack? Scientists seek a better gauge
2013-05-04 11:51:00| Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming Newsfeed
Christian Science Monitor: Scientists are testing a new approach for gauging the amount of water stored in mountain snows reservoirs that supply more than 75 percent of the fresh water in the western US and that slake the thirst of some 1.5 billion people around the globe. The aim is to measure the snow's water content more accurately and more frequently, so that water managers can mete out water stored in reservoirs more effectively. The data also are expected to improve snowmelt forecasts as a melt season progresses....
Tags: water
seek
scientists
gauge
Airborne laboratory used to measure California's snowpack
2013-05-02 16:00:00| Climate Ark Climate Change & Global Warming Newsfeed
LA Times: Teams will fan out across the Sierra Nevada on Thursday to perform their final snow survey of the season, a closely watched rite of spring that helps determine how much water will flow to farms and cities in coming months. But 18,000 feet above the Sierra slopes, an airborne experiment is underway that could revolutionize that ritual. Starting in early April, researchers have made weekly flights over the upper Tuolumne River basin, taking sophisticated instrument readings of the snow depth...
Tags: measure
laboratory
airborne
snowpack