Wyoming Spring 2019 Snowmelt Flood Potential---issued April 17th

Fire Weather in the Central and Southern Plains; Pacific Storms Impacting the West

Gusty to high winds and low relative humidity will bring elevated to critical fire weather to the central and southern Plains into Wednesday. Two Pacific storms will impact the western U.S. into Wednesday with gusty winds, low elevation rain, and heavy mountain snow. Read More >

HIGHLIGHTS:

…Moderate to High potential for snowmelt runoff flooding is forecasted along the lower portions of the Laramie Watershed (near Laramie)…

…Moderate potential for snowmelt runoff flooding is forecasted along the lower portions of the Upper North Platte River Basin (near Saratoga) and along the lower portions of the Little Snake Watershed (near Dixon/Baggs)…

…All other of headwater basins across Wyoming can expect a generally Low potential for flooding due to springtime snowmelt runoff...

QUICK SYNOPSIS:

Mountain snowpack and associated snow water equivalents (SWEs) across most of Wyoming continued to be generally above average by the middle of April. SWEs at the peak snowmelt runoff elevations (8,500’ – 10,000’) were the highest across the Little Snake, Upper North Platte, Laramie, and Snake Basins at 120 to 130 percent of median. The Tongue, Bighorn, and Powder Watersheds had SWEs at 80 to near 90 percent of median at the peak snowmelt runoff elevations.

This outlook is based on various diverse hydrological factors such as snow water equivalents (SWEs) in the mountain snowpack, basin morphology (i.e. how basins respond to snowmelt runoff), antecedent soil moisture, biological/physical factors (bark beetle kill/spruce blight///fire burn scars), low elevation snow depths, and likely temperature and precipitation trends during late spring/early summer.

The current Wyoming Spring 2019 Snowmelt Runoff Flood Potential Outlook graphic: