ALASKA—While most field work in Alaska is wrapped up before the first snow event, one project is ramping up throughout the snowiest season. Since 1979, the Petersburg Ranger District has been monitoring two of the 11 snow survey sites in Southeast Alaska.

Hydrologist Heath Whitacre has been taking snow survey measurements for 15 years. He and a volunteer slog through the snow to collect snow depth and water content during the last three days of each month from December to May.

Both survey locations are on Mitkof Island. One is at 550 feet above sea level, near the Petersburg City Reservoir, and the other is along Raven’s Ridge at 1,650 feet above sea level. Both locations are in muskegs and protected from the wind. Hiking conditions depend on the month and amount of snow. Some months it is possible to walk to the sites, but when the snow is deep, snowshoes are needed.

This past December, Petersburg saw more snow than usual, and this was reflected in the survey results with a snowpack well above average at about 160%. Looking at the history of the yearly snow surveys, 2007 was the year with most snow recorded. Over the five-month period that year, 229 inches of snow was recorded at the lower site, over three times the yearly average. At the upper site, total snowfall in 2007 was 630 inches, over twice the average.

Whitacre remarked, “We’ve been very consistent here in Petersburg getting the data. As more time goes by, the dataset becomes more valuable in light of recent climate change considerations.”

The information gathered from the surveys provides basic climatic data and is submitted to the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Anchorage. That USDA agency compiles the snow data from across the state and the western U.S.

The survey results are used to help forecast deer winter mortality associated with heavy snow years and to assess the effects of snowpack runoff on fisheries. The data is also used to track regional climate change trends.