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The dry American SW

1K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  Tsar Bulba 
#1 ·
#3 ·
Runoff is almost over in Western WA, and we just hit June. Water in my local streams is near summer low. Gonna be some fires in our neighborhood, too, I reckon, and much of the water will be too warm to ethically fish by July at this rate.

Carbon-induced or not, shit's getting real.

On the plus side, I'll be able to grow better green chiles....
 
#21 ·
Wish i had kept a gardening and weather diary these past 40 some years...I start the garden later now than i did 30 years ago...and frost is delayed generally about 3-4 weeks this past decade...Climate change is real...of course we/I say this on a short lifetime...but try reading the lewis and Clark diaries...for some perspective if foggy at best...
 
#4 ·
It is beyond dry out here. The upper San Juan below Pagosa was below floatable levels by June 1, the Rio Grande in Creede is barely floatable and the Salmonfly hatch hasn't gone off yet. Animas below Durango is still floatable but at a quarter of median flow for this date. We've had a great but very early streamer season on the Animas but it should be high and brown with runoff at about 3000 cfs and not at the current 650 cfs and clear. We are already hiking in to fish the high country creeks (10,000' +) but not sure how long those flows will be decent. We had a great snowpack last year that was above average but less than half of that this year. Runoff was virtually non existent. No bueno in SW Colorado this year. It happens- had about the same scenario in 2002 out here. Looking at historical snowpack (from 1950 to present) we have this situation about once a decade in this area.
 
#9 ·
Update: Looks like we are going to Stage 3 fire restrictions and the reports are that the San Juan National Forest will be closed starting this week until we get sufficient moisture. Monsoon season is still at least 3 weeks out. Significant fire just North of Durango with no end in sight. Another fire kicked up NW of Durango in the Bear Creek drainage. Rugged remote terrain on both so until it rains they will likely continue.
 
#13 ·
Yesterday, I drove from Grayland to Sequim for a brief visit with my Dad, via 101 along Hood Canal, and it was nice to have scattered rain showers and awesome cloud formations the whole way. I cooked my Dad a dinner of fresh LIng Cod and steamed veggies, chatted a spell, p/u some of my stuff, and came home, with rain showers continuing the whole way. Got here in time to view the sunset. The cloud formations were still looking awesome, and the colors were spectacular. Dropped off a bunch of canned tuna in Sequim for my brother to p/u later. Dang, my 5 wt and beach fishing stuff got a ride all the way up and back without fulfilling its purpose. Gonna paddle some creek tomorrow, though. Looks like I'll be fishing tidal creeks and local streams earlier in the season than I used to do, and then backing off for the rest of the summer until things cool back down.
 
#16 ·
Yeah, good snowfall in northern CO, and lots in MT.

Just spent 10 days in Gunnison area, runoff over and river in nice shape.......but Blue Mesa is not gonna fill this year.

Felt like summer came a month early, and SW CO is hurtin this year.

Hope they get some rain to help a little.
 
#20 ·
I'll be heading to Taos in August, hopefully the rains will have given/be giving the rivers a boost by then!

I know we're not SW, but we've got a big-ass fire already just south of Laramie at the WY/CO border, right in some great elk country. Went from 25 acres to 5200 in a day and a half; beetle kill, dry weather and wind contributing. Hoping some rain comes soon, and that the hotshots stay safe. This whole part of the state is a tinderbox with all the dead timber, so it was bound to happen, but damn if it isn't hard to watch (and breathe).
 
#22 ·
Here in SW Co. rivers and streams are much lower for this time of year - my river is at 122 cfs when the mean would be 750. I've been wet wading for a couple of weeks now when normally I'd be enjoying rowing whitewater runs. Its gonna take more than hurricane remnants to get some relief. I'm sad about the Burro Fire as its in the headwaters of Bear Cr. which is a great native Co. cutthroat fishery. my wife's columbines bloomed over two weeks ago and today while hiking we saw wild columbines that were past their prime on a trail we normally wouldn't consider hiking until after the 4th.
 
#25 ·
I'll be heading to Taos in August, hopefully the rains will have given/be giving the rivers a boost by then!

I know we're not SW, but we've got a big-ass fire already just south of Laramie at the WY/CO border, right in some great elk country. Went from 25 acres to 5200 in a day and a half; beetle kill, dry weather and wind contributing. Hoping some rain comes soon, and that the hotshots stay safe. This whole part of the state is a tinderbox with all the dead timber, so it was bound to happen, but damn if it isn't hard to watch (and breathe).
Taos: Nope...
 
#27 ·
It's wide spread! Our ice over ran longer than I've ever seen, middle of last half of April we still had some, then bang summer! Spring never came at all, temps in the 20's Celsius, even high 20's & has rained only once last month & was to much to quick! Dry as hell everywhere in southern Finland, never ever seen grass like this on our front lawn! Normally we should have had a insane amount of dandelions for the last month! Picture is true, just took it!
Brown Plant Road surface Wood Beige
 
#28 ·
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