Records set in latest snow survey following series of winter storms

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - If you’d never been to the Mt. Rose summit trailhead parking lot until this week, you wouldn’t know that there is a bathroom buried underneath a massive pile of snow.

After several years of relatively disappointing snowpacks, there was no doubt that when hydrologist Jeff Anderson went to measure and weight the snow near the summit on Monday he was expecting big things.

“It is over 15.5 feet,” he mentioned. “With over 6 feet of water, so I would have to swim if I was standing here, and it was all melted right now. "

At the site near Mt. Rose summit the snowpack is 211% of median and at this point ranks 4th most all time. However Anderson says there is still time for a record to be set.

“At this SNOTEL site it’s the 4th highest,” he explained. “All of those years peaked in late April into early May so this site actually could break its record. "

Farther south is where records have been set.

“For the Carson and Walker basins this is the biggest winter that has ever been measured, " said Anderson.

The Carson Basin currently sits at 290% of median, with the Walker Basin at 306% percent following a relentless onslaught of winter storms.

Federal water master Chad Blanchard was on hand for the snow survey and says there will be decisions to make regarding how much water to release into the Truckee River.

“There is so much more that can come into Tahoe than we can release,” he stated. “We have to get ahead of it. "

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