Oregon Public Broadcasting

If you think it’s been snowing a lot in Oregon’s mountains this winter,  you’re right.

Pete Springer went on the monthly snow survey Thursday and reports on just how much snow there is in the hills.

Getting to the survey site near Timberline requires a jaunt through knee deep snow -- even with snowshoes on.

Jon Lea leads the trek.  He’s with the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Once we reach the survey site, Lea pokes the snow with lengths of aluminum pipe, then weighs the pipe to determine the water content of the snow inside.

After some quick calculations, Lea determines the 177 inch snowpack is 123-percent of average for this time of year.

Jon Lea: “Last month when we were here, we had 108 inches deep and it was 27 inches of water so we’ve gone up quite a bit -- almost double the snowpack since we were here a month ago as far as the water content is concerned.” 

Lea says statewide, Oregon’s snowpack is 138-percent of average -- a significant increase over two months ago when it was only 43-percent of average.