Wet weekend brings brighter water picture

The budget picture in Carson City may look grim, but the water budget on the Carson River is running slightly above average, with at least one location coming close to hitting it's moisture mark.

As of Monday morning, Minden had received 7.67 inches of moisture since Oct. 1, just short of the average for the town.

Record-Courier weather watcher Stan Kapler said the weekend storm left 1.13 inches of rain, bringing the month of February up to 1.52 inches, well above the average precipitation of 1.19 inches for the month.

Kapler said he's received 10.57 inches of moisture and 22.19 inches of snow so far this year.

R-C weather watcher George Uebele reported 1.71 inches during the week in Sheridan Acres.

In the mountains, precipitation levels aren't quite so impressive.

Ebbetts Pass snow telemetry recorded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service show the site at the top of the Carson River watershed received 36.1 inches of precipitation so far this year, shy of the 36.75 inches it should have in an average year.

Spratt Creek telemetry is showing 19.2 inches of moisture for the year ending Feb. 28, also less than the 20.24 inches it averages by this point in the year.

Not all the mountain sites are below average. Monitor Pass is reading 16.6 inches precipitation so far for the year, 1.6 inches more than average. Poison Flat, which is further south also received more moisture, with 22.8 inches so far this year, more than 2 inches higher than the 20.24 it averages.