Floods, runoff, and snowpack in Utah, 1995

Abstract

U tah, like other States in the western United States, has experienced several rapid and extreme changes between wet and dry precipitation cycles during recent years. During the 1995 water year (October 1994 to September 1995), most areas of Utah experienced greater-than-normal precipitation (1961-90), which was reflected in greater-than-average snowpack, moderate flooding, a landslide in southwestern Utah, and prolonged high runoff in northern and eastern Utah. Preliminary monthly streamflow data for January to June 1995 from 11 sites gaged by the U.S. Geological Survey were grouped into three regions of the State and compared with snow-water equivalent data from 6 selected SNOTEL (SNOwpack TELemetered) sites operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (fig. 1).