The numbers are in, and there’s more than enough snow in the county’s chunk of the Cascades. And, ever better, the snow up there is wetter than usual.
Those are good signs for the Snohomish County Public Utility District and Everett’s water service.
Each year around April 1 the PUD measures how much snow fell in the Sultan Basin, one of the wettest locations in the United States.
When it melts, the snow fills up Spada Lake, which the PUD uses to run water through its Jackson Hydroelectric Project to generate electricity, and which Everett uses to supply 450,000 people in Snohomish County with water.
Although the lake is mostly filled by the autumn rains, runoff from winter snow plays an important role too, said Bruce Meaker, the PUD’s senior manager of regulatory affairs.
"We just feel comfortable that we have a certain amount of moisture in the bank," he said.
The places where the PUD measured the snow Sunday ranged from 44 inches deep to 95 inches deep, Meaker said. Those depths are 4 percent to 25 percent above normal.
More importantly, the snow was also wetter than usual, which means it will produce more water when it melts.
The water content of the snow is 47 percent, slightly above the basin’s 44 percent average. Water content is how much actual liquid is stored away in a snow, which can range from dry to wet.
The extra snow will help make up for a fall that was a tad on the dry side Meaker said, explaining that 114.5 inches of precipitation have fallen in the basin this year. The average for this time of year is between 116 and 117 inches.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
