How long does snow last in the mountains?
If you’ve been following our plowing photos (https://www.flickr.com/photos/glaciernps/albums/72157713900310191), you’ve seen that there’s still quite a bit of snow up in the mountains! Some first-time visitors to Glacier are so surprised at seeing snow in summer that first think it's something else, like salt, or paint. Were you surprised to find summer snow in Glacier?
The park’s snow-capped peaks aren’t just for show. Snow in the mountains acts as a reservoir, ideally releasing water slowly during the hottest, driest months.
How do we know how much snow is in the mountains? One important resource is SNOTEL sites. SNOTEL stands for “SNOwpack TELemetry.” Telemetry is the collection of data via remote instruments that automatically transmit to receiving equipment elsewhere. SNOTEL sites are generally located in remote high-mountain areas that are difficult to access. They are designed to operate unattended for a year at a time. When it’s time for maintenance, this may be done by hiking, skiing, or even helicopter.
SNOTEL sites monitor snowpack, precipitation, temperature, and other climatic conditions. There are over 800 SNOTEL sites in the western U.S. We have two here in the park – one at Flattop mountain at 6300 feet of elevation, and one in Many Glacier at 4900 feet.
As of June 1st, snow water equivalent in the park was above average – only slightly on the east side of the divide, and more so on the west. Snow water equivalent is a measurement of how much water is contained in the snow. In other words, it’s the amount of water that you’d get if you melted all the snow at once.
At the Flattop Mountain SNOTEL site, there were 110 inches of snow on May 9. A month later, on June 9th, there were 71 inches. At the Many Glacier site, all the snow was gone by May 6th.
Abnormally warm weather the last week of May and first week of June caused rapid snowmelt across the region. The west side of the Continental Divide had experienced wet, cool May weather, but east of the divide had a drier May.
Check out the NRCS interactive map to see if there’s a SNOTEL site near you or somewhere you’ve visited: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/quicklinks/imap
[Image description: Two backpackers cross a snowfield high up on a mountain pass otherwise free of snow]
