'Just what we needed': Parched Cascade snowpack sees rapid recovery

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In early December, Oregon’s Cascade snowpack was decimated by a stream of warm, tropical moisture that brought high-elevation rain to the region. A month later, the region's snowpack is expected to make a full recovery.

On Jan. 3, Mount Hood’s snowpack was at 26% of its normal height for January. That number shot up nearly 50% between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10 after the mountain received 44 inches of snow in four days, KOIN 6 Meteorologist Kelley Bayern said.

Similar snowpack recoveries were seen throughout the Willamette, Hood-Sandy-Lower Deschutes and Upper-Deschutes Crooked basins in the past week. With another round of heavy mountain snow on the way, Oregon state climatologist Larry O'Neill told KOIN 6 News that the region could reach normal snowpack levels by Sunday.

“This season is reminiscent of the 2019-2020 snow season, where we had a big recovery around this time in January,” O’Neil said. “Given the forecast through this weekend of 3 to 6 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation possible above 5,000 feet and sub-freezing temperatures, we have a good chance of hitting near normal snow water equivalent for this date in all three basins.”

“Snow water equivalent” is a common snowpack measurement which analyzes the amount of water present if the existing snow was in a liquid state. While it’s unclear if the local mountains can maintain a normal snowpack for the rest of the season, especially during a historically warmer, drier El Niño year, O’Neil said that it’s a good start.

“The snow season will not necessarily be saved, but it is a good recovery and just what we needed,” he said.