The Riverton Weather Forecast Office has provided comprehensive information on the current drought situation as it pertains to Western Wyoming including Star Valley:
DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
808 PM MST THU FEB 28 2013
...SOME EASING OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS ACROSS WESTERN WYOMING DURING FEBRUARY...
...MARCH OUTLOOK - COLDER THAN NORMAL...
SYNOPSIS...
THE LATEST U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR FOR WYOMING RELEASED ON FEBRUARY
28TH SHOWED SOME IMPROVEMENT ACROSS WESTERN WYOMING AND THE BIG
HORN BASIN DURING FEBRUARY. TETON COUNTY WAS LARGELY DROUGHT FREE
WITH ABNORMALLY DRY /D0/ CONDITIONS NOW COVERING YELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK AND MOST OF TETON COUNTY. DROUGHT CONDITIONS ALSO
IMPROVED ACROSS THE REST OF THE FAR WEST WITH MODERATE DROUGHT
/D1/ OVERTAKING SEVERE DROUGHT /D2/ ACROSS THE STAR VALLEY AND
WESTERN UINTA COUNTY. DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED MOSTLY THE SAME
ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN WYOMING DURING FEBRUARY. EXCEPTIONAL
DROUGHT /D4/ COVERED 10.1 PERCENT OF THE STATE...OR MOST OF
GOSHEN...NIOBRARA AND WESTON COUNTIES...CREEPING INTO EASTERN
CONVERSE AND SOUTHEAST CAMPBELL COUNTIES. EXTREME DROUGHT /D3/
COVERED MOST OF CENTRAL WYOMING...WITH EXTREME OR EXCEPTIONAL
DROUGHT COVERING 56.7 PERCENT OF WYOMING. SEVERE /D2/ DROUGHT
REMAINED ACROSS THE NORTHEAST...SOUTHEAST CORNERS OF THE STATE AS
WELL AS PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. SEVERE
DROUGHT OR WORSE COVERED 83.6 PERCENT OF WYOMING.
SUMMARY OF IMPACTS...
RIVER AND STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS.
USGS WYOMING DROUGHT-WATCH 28-DAY MAP OF BELOW AVERAGE STREAMFLOW
SHOWED BELOW NORMAL STREAM FLOW ACROSS THE SNAKE RIVER BASIN...THE
UPPER AND LOWER GREEN RIVER BASINS...THE LITTLE SNAKE RIVER BASIN
AND THE SOUTH PLATTE BASIN. NO RIVER BASINS IN WYOMING WERE IN
HYDROLOGIC DROUGHT CONDITIONS.
FIRE WEATHER IMPACTS.
NO FUELS WERE CLASSIFIED AS CRITICAL IN ANY AREAS ACROSS WEST AND
CENTRAL WYOMING. MOST FUELS RECEIVED ADDITIONAL SNOW DURING
FEBRUARY AND REMAINED UNDER SNOW COVER. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNTY
OFFICIALS FOR THE LATEST BURNING RESTRICTIONS.
CLIMATE SUMMARY...
BELOW ARE THE CUMULATIVE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS FROM SELECTED
LOCATIONS ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL WYOMING FOR THE CURRENT WATER
YEAR...OCTOBER 2012 THROUGH JANUARY 2013.
LOCATION PRECIPITATION % AVERAGE
OCT 2012-JAN 2013
-------- ------------- -----------
AIRPORTS
* BIG PINEY 0.50 37
* BUFFALO 2.08 91
+ CASPER 1.71 60
^ EVANSTON 2.34 70
+ GREYBULL 0.68 48
+ LANDER 2.27 72
+ RIVERTON 1.18 61
+ ROCK SPRINGS 0.32 14
* SHERIDAN 3.50 108
+ WORLAND 1.25 83
COOPERATIVE OBSERVER STATIONS
^ BEDFORD 3 SE 9.95 128
* BILLY CREEK 2.52 125
+ BITTER CREEK 4 NE 1.20 68
* FOSSIL BUTTE
NATIONAL MONUMENT 4.31 135
+ GREEN RIVER 3.12 156
+ JEFFREY CITY 1.00 45
MOOSE 9.10 97
OLD FAITHFUL 9.92 108
* POWELL FIELD STATION 0.77 71
+ RIVERTON (DOWNTOWN) 1.44 81
* THERMOPOLIS 1.58 55
+ LOCATION IN EXTREME DROUGHT /D3/
* LOCATION IN SEVERE DROUGHT /D2/
^ LOCATION IN MODERATE DROUGHT /D1/
PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOKS...
THE OUTLOOK FOR MARCH SHOWED A BETTER THAN EQUAL CHANCE OF BELOW
NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS WYOMING WITH THE GREATEST CHANCE OF
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES NORTH OF A KEMMERER TO CASPER LINE. THIS
WOULD BE QUITE A CHANGE FROM A YEAR AGO...MARCH 2012 WAS THE
WARMEST ON 119 YEARS OF RECORD IN WYOMING.
WYOMING HAS AN EQUAL CHANCE OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL
PRECIPITATION DURING MARCH.
THE THREE MONTH OUTLOOK FOR MARCH...APRIL AND MAY SHOWS A GREATER
THAN EQUAL CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF WYOMING. THE REST OF WYOMING HAS EQUAL
CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW...OR NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE
PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK FOR THIS THREE MONTH PERIOD SHOWS A BETTER
THAN EQUAL CHANCE FOR BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE
SOUTHWEST TWO-THIRDS OF THE STATE. THE NORTHEAST THIRD OF WYOMING
HAS EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL PRECIPITATION OR NO
SIGNIFICANT CLIMATE SIGNAL.
DEVELOPMENT OF EL NINO CONDITIONS STALLED OUT IN SEPTEMBER IN THE
PACIFIC OCEAN. ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS WERE OBSERVED IN JANUARY.
ENSO-NEUTRAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH SPRING.
THE U.S. SEASONAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK RELEASED ON FEBRUARY 21ST SHOWED
THAT DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE FORECAST TO PERSIST ACROSS MOST AREAS IN
WYOMING CURRENTLY CLASSIFIED WITH DROUGHT CONDITIONS THROUGH
MAY. HOWEVER...SOME IMPROVEMENT WAS FORECAST OVER THE SHOSHONE AND CLARKS
FORK RIVER BASIN.
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
SNOWPACK DATA FOR FEBRUARY 28TH -
PERCENT OF AVERAGE
DRAINAGE BASIN SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT (SWE)
(BASED ON 1981-2010 NORMALS)
SNAKE RIVER 87
MADISON 91
YELLOWSTONE 93
WIND RIVER 86
BIG HORN BASIN 95
SHOSHONE RIVER 93
POWDER 101
TONGUE 93
BELLE FOURCHE 84
CHEYENNE 89
UPPER NORTH PLATTE 76
SWEETWATER 78
LOWER NORTH PLATTE 68
LARAMIE 76
SOUTH PLATTE 73
LITTLE SNAKE RIVER 80
UPPER GREEN 83
LOWER GREEN 79
UPPER BEAR 75
_____________________________________________
RESERVOIR DATA FOR FEBRUARY 27TH -
RESERVOIR PERCENT FULL
CENTRAL WYOMING
BOYSEN 70.0
BUFFALO BILL 66.5
BULL LAKE 51.4
PATHFINDER 42.0
UPPER GREEN RIVER BASIN
BIG SANDY 20.0
FONTENELLE 41.0
FLAMING GORGE 79.0
UPPER SNAKE RIVER BASIN
GRASSY LAKE 85.0
JACKSON LAKE 73.0
Here is a look at what the forecast temperatures and precipitation are for much of the Spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment