Benjamin Khoh is a geography and environmental science undergraduate student working in the Nevada State Climate Office with Associate Professor of Geography and Nevada State Climatologist Steph McAfee. Khoh recently prepared an update about Nevada’s w88 live casino which was shared through the Living with w88 live casino program and is published below. Living with w88 live casino is a collaborative program that provides information to help Nevadans prepare for, respond to and recover from w88 live casinoMore information about flood safety will be provided in the April Quarterly Report, which will be available this week.
There were dramatic reductions in w88 live casino across much of Nevada. Much of the state is now w88 live casino-free and potentially at risk for flooding. w88 live casino lingers in far southern Nevada.
Current w88 live casino conditions in Nevada and across the West
Until March all of Nevada had been in some sort of w88 live casino or at least Abnormally Dry (D0) since October 2020. This winter has brought much needed precipitation (and then some) to the region. Areas of western Nevada adjacent to the central Sierra Nevada and parts of Eureka, Elko and White Pine Counties emerged from March with no w88 live casino or Abnormally Dry conditions on the US w88 live casino Monitor map. Nye, Lincoln, and Clark Counties are still on a w88 live casino Watch per state guidelines. Across the rest of the state, conditions are still improving with a one-class w88 live casino improvements over much of the state and two-class improvements in areas of western, northeastern, and southern Nevada. As of March 28, 2023, only 5% of the state is classified as D2-Severe w88 live casino, a substantial decrease from just a month ago when 51.35% of the state was D2-Severe w88 live casino.
In the western US, D4-Exceptional w88 live casino and D3-Extreme w88 live casino remain only in eastern Oregon and in far eastern Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. That deep w88 live casino in the east is the western edge of significant w88 live casino centered over Kansas and Oklahoma. Moderate to Severe w88 live casino remain in northern Idaho and Montana, as well. Due to record-setting rain and snowfall, there were widespread one or two w88 live casino class improvements over California. Most of the coast, Central Valley, central and southern Sierra are not in w88 live casino.
March Temperature, Precipitation and Snowpack
March delivered vast amounts of precipitation across the w88 live casino in a series of atmospheric rivers. Areas up and down the state received precipitation amounts approaching 200% of usual for March. Parts of Elko County saw precipitation amounts that were closer to what is typically observed, while northern Pershing County and Clark County were somewhat drier than w88 live casino.
In what has seemed like an endless winter, March also brought colder than w88 live casino temperatures statewide. Much of the state was 4° - 8°F cooler than w88 live casino. The Las Vegas area was slightly cooler than w88 live casino.
Snowpack in the Great Basin and much of the Sierra were at least 220% of usual for this time of year. A notable outlier located in the Sierras is the Mono-Owens basin, which has recorded a snowpack nearly 400% of its w88 live casino snowpack.
Snowpack in the Upper Colorado, which feeds Lakes Powell and Mead, is also above w88 live casino. By late March, it was the highest since 1986 (which is as far back at the Natural Resources Conservation Service Interactive charts go). As of late March, snowpack ranged from 119% of w88 live casino in the north to over 500% of w88 live casino in the Lower San Juan watershed of southern Utah. The overall basin snowpack was at 158% of w88 live casino at the end of the month.
w88 live casino Walker River basin, there are about 60 inches of water stored w88 live casino snowpack, about 10 inches more than previously recorded by SNOTEL stations w88 live casino basin. Further east w88 live casino Lower Humboldt basin, the snowpack is not record-breaking, but it is still about twice the usual for this time of year and w88 live casino top 5%. Perhaps more critical, the snowpack wasn't yet showing substantial melt, which normally starts in late March.
Soil Moisture
The heavy precipitation has led to much wetter than normal topsoils and wet subsoils throughout much of the Sierras, southeastern and central w88 live casino. Both surface and subsoils are drier than normal across the northernmost part of the state. Although subsoils are wet in southern w88 live casino, subsoils remain drier than normal from Clark County through western Nye County.
Water Resources
Water levels for many reservoirs throughout the Sierras are near or above w88 live casino for March. Boca Reservoir in particular is at 134% of its usual March amount. Rye Patch Reservoir is still low at 6% capacity, just 22% of its w88 live casino amount at this time. Some reservoirs may be below w88 live casino to have space when the record snowpack melts in the coming weeks and months or to accommodate other planned water storage.
Lake Mead dropped almost a foot from 1047.02 feet at the end of February to 1046.03 in late March and is at 28% capacity. Forecasts for probable inflows have Lake Mead dropping to a low of 1,030 feet during the middle of summer 2023. Under maximum probable inflow, Leak Mead's elevation could top 1,050 feet this spring and summer. Many of the streams in western w88 live casino reported above normal flows, with many gauges seeing record highs. Up north, amounts were around average, with a select few reporting much below normal streamflow. Flows in the South were variable, with record highs and unusual lows observed.
Looking forward
This winter has been exceptionally wet over much of the state. In places rain and snowfall were record-breaking. However, large parts of already dry Clark County and southern Nye County got only near-w88 live casino precipitation.
As anticipated, the Climate Prediction Center announced that the La Niña is over. ENSO-neutral conditions will prevail into early summer 2023, with increasing odds of El Niño developing by fall.
The chance of higher-than-normal precipitation remains slightly elevated over northern w88 live casino through April. There is also a slight indication that southern w88 live casino could be drier than normal. Continuing into the spring, the outlook suggests reasonable chances of cooler than normal temperatures but does not provide much information about precipitation, except in far southern w88 live casino, where there are slightly elevated chances of a drier than normal spring.
Southern Nevada is likely to remain in w88 live casino through June. Resolution of the remaining w88 live casino in the rest of the state is likely.
Currently, the National Interagency Coordination Center indicates normal or below normal chances of major wildfires in the coming months, though spring is not a major fire season in w88 live casino, anyway. However, wet winters can mean lots of grass and high fire risk at lower elevations.
