Water Supply Outlook as of February 9 2015

Wyoming Water Supply Outlook---issued February 9th

…Wyoming January precipitation was nearly 70 percent of average...

...Current water year precipitation is averaging near 95 percent of normal across Wyoming…

…Mountain snowpack across Wyoming is 90 to 95 percent of average... 

…Below normal snowmelt streamflow volumes are expected across major basins in Wyoming...

…Wyoming carryover reservoir storages are 115 to 125 percent of average for February…

....Synopsis...

January precipitation totals across Wyoming were nearly 70 percent of average. Precipitation numbers varied between 119 percent of normal over the Big Horn River Basin to near 32 percent of normal over the Little Snake Drainage (South Central Wyoming).  Current water year (October 2014 - January 2015) precipitation across Wyoming is nearly 95 percent of average.

Mountain snowpack across Wyoming was 90 to 95 percent of normal by early February.  Snowpack "water" numbers and/or SWEs were the highest across basins in northern Wyoming---varying between 105 to 125 percent of median.  SWEs across basins in southern Wyoming varied between 75 to 100 percent of median.

Below normal (85 to 95 percent) snowmelt streamflow volumes are expected across almost all major basins across Wyoming.  Slightly above average streamflow volumes are expected across the Yellowstone/Clarks Fork as well as portions of the Powder River Drainage.  Several southern drainages—including the Sweetwater, the Little Snake,  the North Platte, the Laramie, and the Bear---are forecasted to have below normal streamflow volumes during the upcoming snowmelt season.

Carryover reservoirs storages across Wyoming are above average (greater than 115 percent) for February. 

The latest Wyoming water supply outlook graphic: