MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST ? After starting out well below average, snow levels in the Mendocino National Forest rebounded in March and remained above average through April, according to forest officials.
The forest?s snow survey crew ? Fred Burrows and Jordan Saylor from the Covelo Ranger District ? conducted the last snow survey for the season at Anthony Peak on April 28. They measured snow depth and water content at 174 percent of the average usually found at that time.
Working on the snow course at 6,200 feet elevation, Burrows and Saylor took an hour to collect snow depth and water content data. Snow depth was 94 inches (slightly over 7.5 feet) with a water content of 40 inches. Both readings are 174 percent of average.
The water content was the same as last year?s wet season but the snow depth last year was only 80 inches at this time. Average snow depth this time of year is 54 inches with a water content of 23 inches.
?This year, the storms were colder which made for a more fluffy snow and thus more depth,? said forest hydrologist Robert Faust. ?Usually snow depth and water content decreases during April, but during the last two years we have had bountiful precipitation. This is the second consecutive wet year and probably is the reason why our hillsides are sliding and causing road bed failures,? he said.
The Plaskett Meadows snow course was surveyed on April 8. Snow depth was 64 inches, which is two feet greater than average.
