Hydrologist says Utah’s weather is ‘optimal scenario’ for spring runoff so far
Apr 18, 2023, 5:11 PM | Updated: 6:45 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Most of the low-elevation snowpack has now melted off along the Wasatch Front.
There is still a record-breaking amount of mid and high-elevation snowpack to come down, according to a hydrologist who got a firsthand look at that snowpack Tuesday.
“My job as a hydrologist is to go look up in the mountains to see what kind of snowpack we have,” Brian McInerney said. He’s a retired National Weather Service Hydrologist with more than three decades of experience in Utah.
This spring he’s been working for Salt Lake City to help understand the snowpack, runoff, and potential for flooding this record-breaking year.
“Where is it located? How big is it? Is it ready to melt?“ McInerney said.
Brian McInerney is a retired National Weather Service Hydrologist who is helping Salt Lake City understand the snowpack, runoff, and potential for flooding this spring. (KSL TV)
Monday he hiked up City Creek.
Tuesday he hiked and snowshoed up to 6,000 feet in Red Butte Canyon and discovered the low-elevation snowpack on both the south and north-facing slopes melted off during the recent warm-up.
That warming lead to high flows in Emigration Creek last week, which flooded due to a blockage in Wasatch Hollow.
“Since that time we’ve had almost an optimal weather scenario, where we’ve warmed for three days, then it’s gotten cold and froze up the snowpack, then we warmed again, we’ve gotten it cold again,” McInerney said.
That’s good news because McInerney said the mid-elevation snowpack in those drainages is about five times what it normally is this time of year. It remains to be seen whether that volume of snow will run off without flooding.
“It depends how it’s going to come down. Is it going to melt quickly? Is it going to melt from all elevations at once? I don’t think so because right now our weather scenario is optimal,” the hydrologist said.
What about the impact from Tuesday’s rain?
“Flows will be high through any of the major drainages in this area. But, as far as major flooding, we don’t see that right now,” he explained.
McInerney likes what the cooling has done for the runoff so far. He said we still have more than a month of it to go.
Gov. Spencer Cox issued a state of emergency due to flooding and flood risks in Utah Monday evening.
The order will be in place for 30 days, but the Legislature could vote to extend it.
According to a Tuesday news release from the governor’s office, the legislature set aside $5 million for emergency management flood mitigation during the 2023 session, but that money has already been depleted. With the state of emergency, local officials can now use funds from the State Disaster Recovery Restricted Account.
“It also permits the state to seek aid from both the federal government as well as other states,” the release stated.
