Gaia’s bounty is unfairly distributed. The above picture is in Western Nebraska off US 6 looking NNW. Five weeks ago I drove that road and everything was dull brown.
The area has had a very wet spring. Contrast that with the Western Slope of Colorado. My rancher friends are very worried.
Starting along the Front Range the snowpack on the North End that feeds the Platte Rivers is above average. The further South you go, the less the snowpack. Those mountains feeding the Rio Grande system are at 22% normal. Mid state, those mountains feed the Colorado system are at 60% normal.
There is faint hope for the Colorado River as the Green, out of Wyoming, is rapidly filling the Flaming Gorge reservoir from Wyoming’s harsh and heavy winter.
We need moisture. Not just for agriculture but hot and dry summers make for huge forest fires.
7 comments:
Sounds dire.
EB
The weather patterns are different this spring. We get "Albuquerque" lows in the late summer and fall. This year we have days of them - most unusual.
1/2 to 2/3rds of Colorado are now high risk areas. That extends into the Four Corner states as well.
I've heard that heavier than usual monsoons are predicted for Arizona this year. We've had light winters, so a disappointing monsoon will create more problems for us. Phoenix sits on a massive underground lake that feeds the place. In the mountains, there is a limestone sponge under me that extends down several thousand feet. We should be ok. But that doesn't mean that the lakes are full or that the streams flow.
LL
Some aquifers will be ok but many are already low due to overuse.
This week in our part of Texas is scheduled all rain every day. I like that. Will the town survive? Remains to be seen.
We had nice, slow, intermittent rain for the last couple of days. I read where they've closed parts of the Cache la Poudre River due to swift water safety concerns. Just hope we have a mild, wet Summer.
LSP
Weather patterns always change, and always have. The climate change nuts can't seem to grasp that.
drjim
So far the rain is enough to stimulate growth but not enough to greatly erode the burn areas. Hope that doesn't change. Heads up in the slot canyons!
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