Cisco's Sonar

Weather

By Bryce Nielson

I have been watching the Bear Lake Valley trying to decide whether it is spring or winter.  This is typical of Bear Lake in the past.  Finally, we had a normal winter.  This is a relief after years of drought and one flood year (2011).  Sometimes I get irritated at the newscasters commenting after a wet forecast, “Well, we need the water”.  It is true in some places that have allowed development to run rampant and rely on reservoir storage (Wasatch Front). 

In the Bear Lake Valley, we are fortunate to have natural sources of water.  The culinary, agriculture, raspberries, golf courses, summer homes and many others rely on springs.  They include Swan, Fish Haven, St. Charles, Bloomington, Indian, North Eden, South Eden and Big Spring creeks.  Only Montpelier relies on a reservoir for water.  These sources have served us well since the white men arrived.  We need to make sure we don’t overload them but as I look down the road 100-200 years, I am sure that Bear Lake will also be used for water.

Speaking of weather, as the Rich County Emergency Manager, the Utah State Div. of Emergency Management only seems to exercise earthquakes (THE 2016 SHAKEOUT).  After the deaths at Bear Lake, Hilldale and Zions NP last year as a result of weather, I felt that Emergency Management should focus more on extreme weather events.  To that end, the Northern Region Emergency Mangers held a “Weather Summit” last week.    We had presentations from UDOT, NOAA, and NWS.  They brought out some interesting facts.  We at Bear Lake are usually impacted by winter storms that develop out of the Pacific Northwest.  They are much less frequent now, but when we get them that are far more intense.  We are moving to weather patterns that will have less snow and more rain which is bad news for reservoir users.  Many people believe that man is the only cause of climate change but this year much of it came from a strong El Nino.  The result of the summit was that everyone needs to pay attention to the weather and how it effects them.  Also, lightning kills more people in Utah than any other weather event.  One other fact, thunderstorms last for an average of 23 minutes.

Weather has always intrigued me.  How it occurs is so interesting.  It is not easily generalized but it will always be with us, so let’s embrace it.