The Snow is So Deep that Scientists Don’t Have Any Tools to Measure It

One sure sign the Sierra Nevada is experiencing a historic winter is the snowpack is getting too deep for devices scientists use to measure it.

It’s a problem that cropped up last week when researchers sought to confirm snow depth at a data site on Slide Mountain at Mount Rose Ski Tahoe near Reno.

“We’re not even close,” hydrologist Jeff Anderson said after jamming an aluminum tube more than 16 feet into the snowpack hoping to reach the ground below.

The snow-measuring snafu provided real life confirmation of what scientific instruments on the site already showed. The Sierra Nevada is wrapping up a historic winter and that’s huge news for Nevada and California, states that have spent the past several years parched in drought.

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Source:  USA Today

“Close up of snow tube – 8 seconds” (CC BY-ND 2.0) by NRCS