Snow forecast good news for more than just skiers

The Associated Press

YAKIMA — Almost everyone will be glad to see snow this year — farmers, skiers, hydropower companies, even crews for the state Department of Transportation.

"We’re ready," said Mike Westbay, a spokesman for the department’s south-central region in Yakima.

"We went on 24/7 on Nov. 18 at Hyak" at Snoqualmie Pass, the busiest mountain pass in the United States, with 20,000-plus vehicles daily and as many as 50,500 on holidays, he said.

Heavy snow, as much as 17 inches, was forecast for the east slopes of the Cascade Range on Wednesday, with 6 to 10 inches possible in the Yakima and Kittitas valleys, the National Weather Service said.

Wind and rain were forecast for much of Western Washington on Wednesday, and a heavy snow warning was also issued for most of Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the Weather Service said.

"I want it to snow in the mountains but not down here," said Westbay, a skier in his leisure time.

The Transportation Department’s south-central regional office is responsible for maintaining three mountain passes: Snoqualmie and Chinook in the Cascades and Alpowa in the Blue Mountains, just west of Clarkston. Its 10-county snow and ice budget is almost $6.5 million for the year.

Thanksgiving weekend snows closed Chinook and Cayuse passes, both on the east side of Mount Rainier, for the season. A portion of the North Cascades Highway was closed earlier this month.

But what can be a challenge for cross-state drivers could turn out to be a blessing for fish and farms.

On March 14, Gov. Gary Locke declared a drought emergency in the state after a minimal snowpack last winter left many rivers at their lowest levels since 1977.

The drought killed thousands of young salmon, cut short the annual irrigation season in central Washington’s orchard country, helped drive up the price of electricity and turned the state’s forests into huge fire hazards.

"The weather pattern we’re in now will bring additional precipitation — rain or snow. At this point, either is fine. We’ll take what we can get," said Doug McChesney, manager of policy and planning for the state Department of Ecology’s water resources program.

Early numbers indicate the water content of snow in the Cascades is spotty, from 35 percent of average at Stampede Pass to 83 percent of average at Harts Pass, above the Methow Valley, he said.

Water statisticians keep a particularly close eye on the snowpack beginning about the first of the year, but the substantial rainfall across the state this month and last has been encouraging.

"We hopefully have turned the corner, but to say that we’re suddenly whole is not the case," McChesney said.

The Yakima Valley, in particular, needs more recovery time, he said.

"So far, it looks like we’re getting off to a pretty good start for next year. Time will tell, of course, because our primary months of precipitation, particularly in the mountains, (are) still to come," said Paul Allison, who has about 200 acres in cherries, apricots, pears and apples near Zillah.

Allison farms in the Roza Irrigation District, where growers last summer received only 38 percent of their normal water supply because of the drought.

Rain in the Yakima Valley this month has nicely dampened the soil before things freeze up and get covered with snow, he said.

"We’re cautiously optimistic — as always," Allison said.

And right in time for all those Christmas lights, autumn rains have refilled the state’s hydropower reservoirs.

The water levels at Tacoma Power’s six hydroelectric dams are all at normal, said superintendent Steve Klein. Riffe Lake, behind Mossyrock Dam, has enough water behind it to generate 626,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, a little bit above the normal 605,000 megawatt-hours of storage, he said.

Seattle City Light’s three reservoirs on the Skagit River also are all at normal levels for this time of year, said Sharon Bennett, a spokeswoman for the municipal utility.

"We’re very happy with where it is now," she said.

For skiers and snowboarders, Crystal Mountain and Mount Baker ski areas are open on a limited basis, and several others planned to open later this week.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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