Water Outlook for Wyoming is Down from Last Year

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has issued it's water outlook for Wyoming.

----Wyoming Water Supply Synopsis

…Wyoming March precipitation was 45 to 50 percent of average...

...Current water year precipitation is averaging 80 to 85 percent of normal across Wyoming…

…Mountain snowpack across Wyoming decreased to 70 to 75 percent of average...

…Below normal snowmelt streamflow volumes are still expected across almost all major basins in Wyoming...

…Wyoming carryover reservoir storages are 110 to 120 percent of average for April…

March precipitation totals across Wyoming were 45 to 50 percent of average. Precipitation numbers varied between 81 percent of average over the Little Snake River Basin to near 22 percent of normal over the Crow Creek/Lodgepole Creek Drainage (extreme Southeast Wyoming). Current water year (October 2014 - March 2015) precipitation across Wyoming was 80 to 85 percent of average.

Mountain snowpack across Wyoming decreased to 70 to 75 percent of normal by early April. Snowpack "water" numbers and/or SWEs were the highest across basins in western and northwestern Wyoming---varying between 80 to 90 percent of median. SWEs across southern Wyoming continued to be the lowest at 50 to 70 percent of median.

Below normal (65 to 75 percent) snowmelt streamflow volumes are expected across almost all major basins across Wyoming. Near normal streamflow volumes are expected across the Yellowstone/Clarks Fork Drainage as well as the South Fork of the Shoshone River Basin. Several central and southern basins—including the Upper North Platte, the Wind, the Little Snake, and the Bear---are forecasted to have well below normal streamflow volumes during the upcoming snowmelt season.

Carryover reservoirs storages across Wyoming continue to be above average (greater than 115 percent) for April.