撸先生

VAIL 鈥� The deadly pine beetle that has ravaged forests across the Rocky Mountains isn鈥檛 only affecting trees. This week, snow scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Snow Survey Program visited one of their snow telemetry sites on Vail Mountain to look at how the pine beetle has affected the snow recordings on that site.

Snow telemetry, or Snowtel, is an automated system of more than 600 snowpack and water measuring sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture around the Western U.S. Generally, they鈥檙e located in remote high-mountain watersheds.

Diane Johnson, the Public Affairs Manager for our local Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, has been suspecting for years that something isn鈥檛 quite right with Snotel site No. 842, located near the Pika run on Vail Mountain.

鈥淚 regularly get my board members and employees of Vail Mountain asking whether the SNOTEL data can be trusted,鈥� Johnson wrote in an email to Brian Domonkos, the Colorado Snow Survey Supervisor with the USDA鈥檚 Natural Resources Conservation Service. 鈥淥bviously we鈥檙e in a high profile area and what鈥檚 happening with snow drives our economic engine, so I try to stay on top of this stuff when it seems to be getting a bit out of sync when compared to the weather we are actually experiencing.鈥�

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GROUND TRUTHING

As a result of Johnson鈥檚 letter, Domonkos scheduled a visit to Vail Mountain and Snotel site No. 842 for a process called 鈥済round truthing,鈥� where readings are taken to verify the accuracy of the site鈥檚 recordings. When he got there, Domonkos immediately pointed out less trees in the area.

鈥淭he small group of trees that are behind us are some of the few remnants of a slightly forested, more dense area that used to be here some five-plus years ago,鈥� he said from the site. 鈥淏ut those trees have since been removed and we believe that we鈥檙e seeing more windy conditions that have an effect on the snowpack … We believe that we鈥檙e seeing scour.鈥�

Scour is where wind blows snow that would have otherwise settled into the Snotel site away from that recording station. After examining the station and taking some readings, Domonkos said his suspicions were confirmed.

鈥淭he readings were pretty much in line with what we had suspected when we were there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t looks like there is some scour.鈥�

As a result, Domonkos has noted the difference in the USGS records. Since Snotel site No. 842 has been in operation for more than 35 years, Domonkos said the historical info associated with the site is too important to effect any change in the way it is being recorded. While ground truthing missions have resulted in changes to other Snotel sites, and even the elimination of a site, in this case site No. 842 will just be monitored a little more closely going further, with the scour noted in the readings.

鈥淲e probably won鈥檛 take any real further action,鈥� Domonkos said. 鈥淭he readings were off a little bit, but not enough to warrant any adjustments at the site.鈥�