Tingley Lake 4

http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/04/01/news/community_news/cit5.txt

March comes in dry this year

Published April 1, 2004

Two temperature records were set during the month in Klamath Falls

By TODD KEPPLE

March turned out to be a relatively dry month for Klamath Falls, with the airport receiving only .16 of an inch of precipitation.

The 30-year average for the month is .92 of an inch.

Total precipitation for the first three months of the year in Klamath Falls totaled 4.14 inches, slightly above the long-term average.

Cumulative precipitation for the water year, which began Oct. 1, totaled 8.22 inches, slightly below the average of 9.14 inches.

The city set two records for daytime highs last month. The thermometer at the airport hit 69 degrees on March 8, breaking the old record of 67 set in 1996. The temperature reached 73 degrees on March 21, 1 degree higher than the old record set in 1960.

Afternoon highs last month were above average every day from March 6 through March 24, during which time the city received no precipitation.

Only eight-tenths of an inch of snow fell in March, bringing the total for the entire winter to 43.9 inches. That's about twice as much snow as the city received last winter, but far short of the record 97 inches recorded in 1992-93.

Records indicate the city of Klamath Falls can expect to see snow sometime in April. Two years ago, in fact, the city recorded 14.6 inches in April, including 10 inches that fell on the last day of the month, causing considerable damage to trees in the area.

But locals can also expect temperatures to warm considerably during the month of April. The average daytime high for today's date is 55 degrees. But April 30, the average climbs to 63 degrees.

The long-term average precipitation for April is .81 of an inch.

The wettest March on record came in 1995, when the airport recorded 4.27 inches of precipitation, including the water content of 18.8 inches of snow that fell that month.

The wettest April on record also came in 1995, with 3.59 inches falling, including water from 5 inches of snow.

Other indications that March was relatively dry this year are seen in data collected in other parts of the Klamath Basin.

The water content of the mountain snowpack in Klamath County was estimated on March 1 at 137 percent of average. By Wednesday, the snowpack had dwindled to 100 percent of average.

The Williamson River at Chiloquin was flowing Wednesday at 1,420 cubic feet per second, slightly below the long-term average of 1,565 cfs.