Dirty Snow Could Impact Spring Snowmelt
Author: Dan Bammes
Bammes, D. (2021, February 08). Dirty snow could impact spring snowmelt. Retrieved March 02, 2021, from https://kslnewsradio.com/1942695/dirty-snow-could-impact-spring-snowmelt/
WASATCH VALLEY, Utah– The ugly brown snow that fell over much of Utah last week got everybody’s cars dirty. But it can also have an impact on spring runoff from the Wasatch Mountains.
McKenzie Skiles, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Utah studies the effects of windblown dust and air pollution on winter snowfall. Dust and soot make the snow darker, so it absorbs more sunlight and melts faster, she explained.
Utah’s polluted urban air also includes black soot that colors the snow, but Skiles noted it’s much less significant than the windblown dust is in affecting spring runoff.
While it’s likely some of last week’s dusty snow will be covered by white snow later in the winter, Skiles says the brown layer can still have an effect. “Later in the season, it will actually re-emerge. That dust doesn’t get carried away in the meltwater as the snow starts to melt,” she said regarding the dirty snow.
Hydrologists say much of Utah’s spring runoff this year could soak into the soil rather than filling the state’s reservoirs because the past year has been so dry.
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