Early winter

Stage = 47.5cm

First snow survey of the winter season today. About 30-50cm of snowpack around the gauging station in the lower elevations. The students carried out the snow survey while I checked on all the lysimeter drains and data loggers. Before the snow accumulates it is usual for the drains to become blocked by needles from the trees. Therefore, it is important to dig out the snow over each drain, clean it out, and then return the snow over the top. At the mature cedar site, all 3 drains were blocked and the lysimeter trays were filled with freezing water (runoff data lost up to December 28). Nothing like dipping your hand into that freezing water to clean out the drains!

Lysimeter at the young cedar site