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Dust storms speed snowmelt in the West: “This is really the story of the wholesale transformation of the West”

Posted by: Maven on May 24, 2009 at 11:18 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

A series of unusual spring dust storms has left the snowcapped mountains of western Colorado stained brown and red, even a bit pink. The dust is speeding up the runoff to rivers that supply millions of people with water and raising fears of an increasingly arid West.

Twelve dust storms barreled into the southern Rockies from the deserts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico so far this year. In contrast, four storms hit the mountains all year long in 2003. Eight occurred in each of the last three years. “This year’s been really, really strong,” said Jason Neff, a hydrologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Something’s been going on, and I don’t think we’re exactly sure what.”

The storms leave a dark film on snow that melts it faster by hastening its absorption of the sun’s energy. That, coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures, has sped up the runoff here, swelling rivers to near flood stage, threatening to make reservoirs overflow and fueling fears that there will not be enough water left for late-summer crops.

“It creates a high-pressured game of Twister for water managers,” said Thomas Painter, director of the Snow Optics Lab at the University of Utah. “They’re having to make decisions quickly to hold on to water or release water.”

Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

May 24, 2009 · Filed Under Water Quality

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