Water Watch Report for August 31st, 2010 Water Year 2009 - 2010
Great Salt Lake
Maximum Gust for 2010: 90mph on April 28th, 2010
Maximum Gust for 2009: 89mph on August 6th
Maximum Gust for 2008: 78mph
Maximum Gust for 2007: 104mph
Current Conditions
| Current Lake Level |
4194.2' & dropping |
| Gain/Loss for Water Year |
0.2' Gain |
| Gain Since January 1 |
-.2' Loss |
| Precip. % of Normal for Month |
233% |
| Precip. % of Normal for Water Year |
90% |
| Precip. % of Normal Since Jan 1. |
99% |
| Snowpack % of Normal for GSL Drainage |
No Longer Tracking |
| Snowpack % of Normal / Bear River |
No Longer Tracking |
|
| Snowpack % of Normal / Weber-Ogden |
No Longer Tracking |
| Snowpack % of Normal / Jordan River |
No Longer Tracking% |
2010 Precipitation Report
| Monthly Summary |
Normal |
Current |
Percent |
Summary |
| October |
1.57" |
1.18" |
78% |
October failed us. |
| November |
1.4" |
.20 |
14% |
November was a total failure. |
| December |
1.23" |
1.35 |
110% |
December was a good month. |
| January |
1.37" |
.32 |
25% |
Interesting Month - See analysis below. |
| February |
1.33"
|
.42 |
32% |
Another failed month |
| March |
1.91" |
1.9 |
99% |
Strong finish. Ended at average |
| April |
2.02" |
2.48 |
123% |
Finally a good month! |
| May |
2.09" |
2.80 |
134% |
Very good month! |
| June |
.77" |
.96 |
125% |
Another Very Good Month! |
| July |
.72" |
.09 |
12% |
USELESS MONTH |
| August |
.76" |
1.70 |
233% |
Fantastic Month! |
| September |
1.33" |
|
|
|
| Annual |
16.5" |
13.59" |
82% |
We are now 82% towards our Calendar Year goal and 84% of our Water Year goal |
Precipitation Summary for the Calendar Year
| Normal Annual Precipitation for the Calendar Year (Oct-Sept) |
16.5" |
| How Much Precipitation have we Had So Far (Oct-Sept) |
13.59" |
| What Percent of Annual Precipitation Do We Have For The Year |
82% |
| How Much More Do We Need for a Normal Year |
2.91" |
Precipitation Summary for the Water Year (Oct-May)
| Normal Water Year Precipitation |
13.02" |
| How Much Precipitation have we had so far (Oct-May)? |
11.15" |
| What Percent of Annual Precipitation do we have for the year |
86% |
| What was our water year deficit for 2010? |
1.87" |
WILL WE GET A MAY-JUNE BUMP in the LAKE LEVEL? We did see a bump. It was small. It was .3'
We officially topped off at 4195.8 and we are no going down rapidly
March through May broke a serious dry trend that the Great Salt Lake basin was experiencing. From dismal precip and snowpack numbers at the end of March, we have climbed back up to normal. Even the critical Bear Lake Drainage has bumped up to normal.
Where are we at now: The Bear River has stopped flowing into the Great Salt Lake. Other currents, athough still flowing, have slowed down and the evaporation is greater than inflow.
According to the Drought Monitors, we have gone back into an "Abnormally Dry" pattern for the whole Great Salt Lake area. This can be viewed at drought.unl.edu/dm/drmon.gif
On a normal water year cycle the lake will rise two feet during the spring and drop two feet during the summer evaporation.
October, Failed us
November: November is a dismal failure. It would be hard for November to crawl out of the hole now. Yet, this last storm did improve numbers somewhat.
December: December delivered. Not enough to pull us out of our huge deficit for the water year. But chalk it up in the positive column. And it was enough to keep our calendar year percentage near normal.
January: January was a bag of mixed results. The direct precipitation (a very important factor in our water supply) was dismal. Yet our snowpack increased 10% during January. That means December and January delivered an increasing snowpack but January failed to deliver direct precipitation to the lake. There is hope of pulling this winter out of the abyss.
February: Failed us. Too many storms went south or disipated when they hit Utah. Yet, somehow our snowpack remained steady rather than decreasing during the warm weather of February.
March: March was a good month. We had several good storms to finish out the month on average. And we have more storms on the way for April. Snowpack stayed steady rather than decreasing.
April: A great month for precipitation. An ok month for snowpack.
May: Excellent Month! The month that saved us
June: Anohter great month!
July: Failed us miserably. Useless Month!
August: Awesome month! See a trend here? It appears we have entered a wet cycle. Let's hope it stays.
What Factors Do We Look For in Our Report?
Precipitation: Watch the charts above. They now show what a normal Water Year is for the Great Salt Lake 13.02". (Water Year is October through May). This is the critical time to receive Direct Precipitation moisture into the Great Salt Lake and to receive Snowpack in the Wasatch Mountains and the Northern Uinta's and Bear River Basin. The above chart also shows Calendar Year Precipitation. This number is not quite as important since it includes the dry summer months that do not contribute much during the evaporation months. During the summer months it is more critical that the lake and air temperature remain relatively mild to slow down evaporation. These numbers will be updated the day after we receive measurable precipitation at the marina.
Snowpack: Not tracking at this time
Ground Saturation: Ground saturation is devastating. We hope for a comeback before the winter freeze.
Reservoir Level: Good shape
Harbormaster
Great Salt Lake State Marina