It could be a good year for moisture in Wyoming, according to this week’s snow report from the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
The NRCS has data stations scattered across the state that measure the amount of water in snowpack, and use that to predict how much water will be available in the spring and summer. These measurements are important in a region where most of the water supply comes from snowfall.
Moisture levels are currently eighteen percent above average for Wyoming as a whole, and for most drainage basins in the state, they’ve been increasing over the last couple of weeks. All of the basins are wetter than they were this time last year.
NRCS Water Supply Specialist Lee Hackleman points to the recent storms in southern and western Wyoming as a positive sign for spring flows.
“The only place that’s not looking good right now is the Powder River,” Hackleman said. “And I don’t know why it’s not getting any snow. It’s sitting right in the middle of the state there and it keeps getting missed. But the Platte and the Wind and the Green – they’re all looking great.”
Hackleman adds that it’s still too early in the season to say whether Wyoming will avoid another dry year.
