More snow needed

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
With snow totals falling below 42% of the 30-year median in both areas close to Weston County included on the Black Hills Snow Course Readings completed by the Natural Resource Conservation District’s Sundance office, soil conservation technician Sherry Burr said that the area is in desperate need of more snow. In addition to the low snow totals in areas closest to Newcastle, the other five areas included in the course reading have snow totals at between 26% and 56% of the 30-year median. 
Little Bear Run, with an elevation of 6,240 feet, currently has 6.5 inches of snow with a 0.7 snow water equivalent. This is the same amount of snow water equivalent that the area had last year in January. 
According to the NRCS website, “snow water equivalent, or SWE, is a commonly used measurement used by hydrologists and water managers to gauge the amount of liquid water contained within the snowpack. In other words, it is the amount of water that will be released from the snowpack when it melts.”
The average snow water equivalent for the area is 1.7 inches, meaning the current SWE is 41% of the 30-year median, from 1991 to 2020. 
Mallo, the other area near Newcastle included in the report, has an elevation of 6,420 feet with a current snow depth of 8.1 inches. This equates to a snow water equivalent of 0.9 inches, well below the 30-year median of 3 inches. 
This equates to Mallo having 30% of the 30-year median SWE. Last year the area had a snow water equivalent of 1.4 inches in January. 
In addition to being short on snow for January, Weston County is still listed as abnormally dry for precipitation in the past 60 days with a moderate rating on the U.S. Drought Monitor, according to drought.gov. 
Level 1, Moderate Drought, involves “some damage to crops, pastures; streams, reservoirs, or wells low, some water shortages developing or imminent; and voluntary water-use restrictions requested,” according to the monitor.
Updated on Jan. 4, the monitor shows 86.39% of the county in moderate drought, with 14.53% of that listed as being in severe drought. 
Severe drought is classified as areas with poor pasture conditions, scarce hay, dust increases, stressed trees and vegetation and low water pressure. 
In addition to this, the entire county is listed as being abnormally dry. 
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center’s Dec. 31 update predicts that the drought will persist in Newcastle and most of Weston County in the near future.