Prepare for flood season now, county official says

Recent snows helped to push Jefferson County’s snowpack above normal. That can be a boon for the summer wildfire season but a problem for spring flooding, according to Doug Dodge, the Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator for Jefferson County.

“The specific volume of snow available is certainly something to keep an eye on,” he said by email, noting that it was 110 to 112 percent of normal late last week. “But the more important question is how all that stored water is released.”

The rate of release should be slow enough to avoid major flooding, Dodge wrote, if overnight temperatures remain below freezing, there is no rapid warming and we avoid a “rain on snow event.”