We’ve seen the closed roads and the floods. Maybe We learned our lesson.
e
l Niño is coming. And this year’s event looks to be particularly strong. For long-time residents of Reno and Lake Tahoe, the idea of a strong El Niño weather pattern evokes memories of two previous significant El Niño winters, 1982-83 and 1997-98. El Niño, for the uninitiated, is a weather pattern that includes warmer-than-average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. It tends to bring moisture to the Americas. While it comes around every six or seven years, some years it has a greater effect than others. This winter’s is predicted to be especially large. Die-hard skiers and snowboarders are no doubt hoping that this year will mirror the epic snowstorms of 1982-83, where snow totals for single storms often exceeded six feet, and a cascade of them resulted in seasonal snow totals of over 50 feet in parts of the Sierra. Many will also remember, however, road closures over the passes and schools closed for days as the ever-increasing piles of snow created havoc with infrastructure–there were widespread power outages, Tahoe roofs were collapsing under tons of wet Sierra cement, and streets and highways became virtual tunnels, flanked by 20-foot snow banks. Long-time Renoites may also remember the New Years’ Flood of 1997,
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ART OF THE STATE
when the Truckee River inundated huge swaths of downtown Reno, the Sparks industrial area, and the airport. Many newer Reno-Sparks residents might not realize that the Sparks Marina was created overnight, inadvertently, when the floodwaters of the North Truckee Drain entered what was then the Helms Gravel Pit. The island of Wingfield Park disappeared under the muddy waters of the Truckee and debris piled around the arched supports of the Virginia Street Bridge, creating a dam of logs and flotsam that exacerbated the flooding. Property damages in Reno and Sparks were estimated to exceed $500 million. While our region desperately needs a steady procession of wet winter storms to build the snowpack and refill the bone dry Truckee River, the question remains: Is the Truckee Meadows ready to withstand another major El Niño year?
the need for SNOW Reno and the Sierra desperately need an above average snowpack and heavy precipitation to replenish depleted water supplies. Skiers are also hoping for an epic snow year at local resorts like Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. “It always snows in winter,” said Mike Pierce, director of marketing for Mt.
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by Mark Maynard
Rose. “The doom and gloom out there that winter will never come back is not a realistic theory.” With the region’s highest base elevation, Mt. Rose is perfectly placed for a potentially warmer, wetter winter. “Our stats on El Niños in the past, they’re strong,” said Pierce. “It typically means more moisture. With more moisture, you get more snow. Yes there’s a chance those storms might come in a little warmer. That’s where our altitude advantage comes into play.” Sierra resorts first used snowmaking to augment natural snow, but the technology that keeps Mt. Rose ready for skiers has improved greatly over the decades. “The biggest difference is now we can open on snowmaking just by itself,” said Pierce. “If we can get a base down early, it really helps when the snow comes.” Mt. Rose has added nine new fixedposition snowmakers for this season in key spots, including at the base of the Slide Bowl. And the new snowmaking guns have the latest in fully automated, high-efficiency technology, turning on and off according to temperature conditions to take advantage of every window of snowmaking opportunity. While everyone hopes for snow on the slopes, it creates havoc on the roads. The local fleet of snowplows has an
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MISCELLANY
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The 1996-1997 flood scene here is of the intersection of the Truckee River with Sierra Street. The round fence shown enclosed an ice rink that was located where the downtown movie theatres now stand.
“ el niño”
continued on page 14
OCTOBER 15, 2015
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