Famine follows 'feast' of '83

Abnormal snowpack conditions prevailed along the Wasatch Front during the 1983 flood period, as they do today.

But two decades ago, snow accumulation was freakishly heavy.

Now, the mountains are unusually dry.

The normal level, expressed in terms of snow-water equivalent (SWE), is about "8 inches of water" for the third week in May in the snowpack, said Brian McInerney, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City.

As Utah's drought drags on into its fifth year, snow accumulations for the Wasatch Front mountains amount to an average of 3 inches SWE.

In May 1983, he said, "there was 37 inches of water, on average."

Twenty years ago, Utah was in the midst of a period of wet weather that was to stretch out for another year. Now, a relentless drought is the enemy.

Until mid-March 1983, the snowpack along the Wasatch Front was about normal. It should have increased slowly until the first week of April, then begun to melt. It would have been gone by June 15 in a typical year.

But after March 15, 1983, McInerney said, "the snowpack increased dramatically." The spring weather was "incredibly wet, incredibly cool. It maintained that snowpack and added to it."

About the middle of May, northern Utah's snowpack began to melt. As the weather suddenly warmed, McInerney said, "it all came off at once."

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E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com