Despite snowfall in the latter half of March, Mount Hood’s Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), a measure of the amount of water contained within the snowpack, remains close to a record low according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

On March 25, the test site, at an elevation of 5,400 feet and in the vicinity of
Timberline Lodge, revealed an SWE of 13.7 inches, barely above the lowest on
record in 2005 of 13.5 inches (data cited from 1981 to 2012), and 24 percent
of the 30-year average, 56.6 inches.

The snow depth at the test site was 35 inches and precipitation to date was
66.4 inches, both as of March 25.

“Overall, we still have a huge deficit on snowpack,” said Andy Bryant, Service
Hydrologist for NOAA. “We’ve had some rain, which certainly helps. But
snowpack hasn’t gotten significantly better.”

Bryant anticipated an on/off wet pattern for the end of March and into early
April, with freezing levels dropping a bit at the same time. He noted that
Mount Hood typically continues to accumulate snowpack during the first half
of April and sometimes into May, which is something to monitor.

“That would help to give us some snowpack to push some of that runoff into
the spring and early summer,” Bryant said, adding it would help area
streamflow and water temperatures.

The lack of snowpack has made the winter a challenging one for Mount Hood’s
ski resorts.

Hans Wipper, Public Relations for Mt. Hood Skibowl, reported the resort had
only been open for 11 days, all during the last part of Christmas break, as of
the middle of March.

Wipper added that on the bright side, Skibowl has been able to offer tubing
for visitors and even opened some of its summer activities, including the
Malibu Raceway. Wipper anticipated opening almost all summer offerings for
spring break, and will keep them open on weekends moving forward, weather
permitting.

“You’ve kind of got to roll with the punches, and if there’s no snow, why not
open up the summer activities,” said Wipper, who has worked at Skibowl for
more than 20 years.

Wipper added the resort is “not throwing in the towel yet” on winter activities,
and that they could open the ski lifts back up if enough snow arrives.

Jon Tullis, Director of Public Affairs at Timberline Lodge, estimated in mid
March that skier business was off approximately 20 percent, but that business
at the lodge and visitor numbers remained strong.

Tullis added that thanks to the resort’s higher elevation, skiing was available
on the Palmer snowfield every day, and that while the lower mountain was
closed, the upper mountain remained open. He also noted the late March
snow should ensure that the Bruno chairlift is open for spring break and that
he anticipates a good summer season.

Tullis credited Timberline’s groomers for creative snow farming (also known as
harvesting), moving snow from one location to another to maximize the
snowfall on their terrain.

“They’ve done a great job for us,” he said, noting the resort has a spring pass
on sale that is good through Memorial Day. “All said and done it’s been a
disappointing ski season but we’ve remained open.”

Tullis, who has worked at Timberline for 31 years, sees some similarities
between this winter and the winter of 2005, noting that 10 year ago, the
snowpack was worse at the point before gaining 100 inches by mid April. He
added that skiing lasted through Aug. 18 of that year.

Dave Tragethon, Executive Director of Public Relations and Social Media at Mt.
Hood Meadows, estimated the snowpack at Meadows to be approximately 20
to 25 percent of normal in mid March, which is typically more than 100 inches.
The resort, however, has been open every day since Dec. 22 and will continue
daily through April 12, with the possibility to stay open on weekends beyond
that.

Tragethon also credited his crews for their harvesting techniques, including
starting the process in November to help fortify the base area even prior to
opening. He noted the resort has been able to operate most of the upper
mountain, although Heather Canyon has been closed since there hasn’t been
enough snowpack to build snow bridges for full access.

The conditions in January may also have contributed to the best month for ski
school in Mt. Hood Meadows history, Tragethon noted, including a lot of
sunshine and good snow coverage in the beginner’s terrain.

“It brought the families out, it brought the beginners out,” Tragethon said.
“On one hand, we’re probably missing the hard core, powder enthusiast. But
on the other hand, we’ve had more families, more beginners come out.”

Tragethon, who has been at the resort for 20 years, also saw similarities with
the winter of 2005, but noted they are keeping their fingers crossed for some
more spring snow.

“By no means are we throwing in the towel,” said Tragethon, while adding the
resort offers spring passes. “March and April are big historical snow months.”
The cause of it all

Bryant noted that the amount of precipitation this winter is below normal, but
not by a dramatic amount. Unfortunately, much of the precipitation has come
during warm events, often referred to as “atmospheric rivers” or a “pineapple
express.” In these cases, a storm system picks up tropical moisture, perhaps
the remnants of a tropical storm, but temperatures weren’t cold enough to
produce snow.

“It’s an issue more of the temperatures; this winter, our temperatures have
been several degrees above average over the course of the last 90 days,” said
Bryant, who added there isn’t a connection with El Nino or La Nina. “That’s
really unusual around here, we typically don’t see that much deviation.”

Bryant also said there is a connection to what happened this winter in the
Pacific Northwest and what happened in the eastern United States: a large
area of high pressure pushed the jetstream to the north, with cold air being
funneled to the east. While our temperatures were higher, the east coast
endured cold temperatures mixed with storms arriving from the Atlantic
resulting for many places with record snow totals.

Bryant noted that the bigger picture does not look like it will include a very
wet spring for the region.

“It’s possible we’ll still have a wet spring, and that will alleviate some of the
drought concerns, but at this point we’re not seeing a strong indication of
that,” he said.