2011 Wet and Snowy in Star Valley!

To surprise of no one who resides in Star Valley, 2011 will go down as  very wet and snowy.  While the official report from the Climate Stations in Bedford and Afton will not be available for a few months, there is a dedicated observer in the far southern end of the valley who reports the rain and snowfall on the Internet every morning.

The observer is located about 5 miles south of Smoot at an elevation around 7000 feet.  This location is  higher than much of the valley likely accounting for the  somewhat greater precipitation totals.

For the year this station measured 32.05 inches of precipitation.  The total amount of snow for the year was an impressive 241 inches.

Snow cover was noted from November 9 2010 until it finally completely melted on the last day of May of 2011.  This was a total of 203 consecutive days of snow cover!

While this winter has so far started with less snow, snow has been on the ground since November 5th.

This data is reported every morning on the Internet site

http://www.cocorahs.org/

There are thousands of reports from around the USA entered every day on this site.  In Star Valley the only other active observer is at my home in Star Valley Ranch.  However since my record  began last Spring an annual summary is not available for 2011.

Any one interested in becoming an official observer can find directions on the site.  Also I would be happy to provide assistance if needed.