Enough Snow?

We have had two major winter storms so far this year, so it got me wondering how we were doing in replenishing our yards and river beds from this past summer's drought.

The whole state of Iowa is in some form of a drought, ranging from extreme drought (NW Iowa) to moderate (SE Iowa)

Our most recent snowstorm came through early Wednesday (Jan 30, 2013) morning and in Des Moines it dumped just over 6 inches of snow.  It was a narrow path of snow where NW Iowa saw very little if any and the SE part of the state saw more rain (in fact some flooding).

According to the Iowa State Climatology Bureau we're about 12 inches of rain short of where we should be at this point in order to make up for last year's dry summer.  To give you an idea of how much snow would be needed to make up this difference, 1 foot of snow equals about 1 inch of actual rain.  So, if we were to make up the shortfall in the form of snow, that would be the equivalent of 12 FEET of snow needed.  I'm not a big fan of winter to begin with, so I for one do not want to see 12 feet of snow come down anytime soon, or anytime at all for that matter.

What are we looking for in the coming months?  Some snow would be okay, as long as we get a gradual thaw so the melted snow goes to our soil as opposed to run-off.  (Run-off occurs when the ground is still frozen and we get a radical change in temperature and the snow melts so fast it has nowhere to go except for where it isn't as needed.) Then we need the ground to be thawed followed by a substantial amount (12 in approximately) of rain this spring to replenish our yards and riverbeds. Now, hopefully not all at once... an inch or two here and there to add up over time.  A downpour, while better than nothing, doesn't do as much good.

Why do I mention riverbeds?  Well, our water supply has to come from somewhere and if our river levels get too low (as they did last summer), this will increase the likely-hood of cities putting on water-restrictions and ask people to conserve water (some suburbs in the Des Moines area did this last summer).  While I never promote being wasteful, I do enjoy a green lawn, so I water my lawn, and if there are restrictions put on water usage, this may prohibit the use of sprinkler's and irrigation systems.

So, here's to a little more snow, gradual increase in temperatures and for a wet spring.