More snow?

David Montgomery

PIERRE — Dreaming of a white Christmas? If things keep up, Pierre should be in luck.

More snow is expected to fall this afternoon, and more on Saturday, continuing one of the wettest winters in the past decade.

Today’s snowfall is expected to hit Pierre only lightly, according to Anthony Gionta, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. Areas south and east of Pierre will see up to four inches of snow, while Pierre is expected to only receive approximately one inch.

“We’re not going to get the full brunt of this,” Gionta said. But he said if a snow band develops any area in the storm’s path could get a larger-than-expected snowfall.

Saturday’s weather is still further off, said Dan Mohr, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service, and difficult to predict exactly.

“Computer models are showing something coming across for Friday night into Saturday, a shot of more snow after the one we get Thursday night,” Mohr said. “That’ll add to the whole snow package. It looks like there’ll be a little more wind with that one.”

Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb., said the Upper Great Plains region has seen heavy snowfall compared to past winters, and could bode well for the drought-stricken area.

“So far this year, definitely there has been more snow and colder temperatures,” Fuchs said. “We’re really at the beginning of our snow season. If we take where we’re at today and project it out to late February, we would definitely be on track to have an above-normal snowfall season, which would definitely help the hydrological impacts on the big Missouri reservoirs.”

Winter precipitation, Fuchs said, matters a lot for farmers and other water users during the warm parts of the year.

“The winter snows play a huge part, especially for irrigation concerns, out on the plains,” he said. “Typically those reservoirs depend on springtime runoff for water storage in their systems. In a winter where you have below-normal snowfall, that means less water availability in the summertime for irrigation concerns.”

Fuchs said it is too soon to tell whether the increased snowfall indicates any lessening of the drought which has hurt regional farmers and led to increased electricity costs for local consumers due to lower water levels behind hydroelectric stations such as the Oahe Dam.

“There’s no connection that a cold winter means a hot summer, or vice versa,” Fuchs said.

However, he said a wet winter will help even if the summer remains dry.

“The outlook for the next few weeks looks like we’re going to stay in this cold pattern,” he said. “That’s encouraging to see that conditions are favorable for accumulation and snowfall and seeing more of our winter precipitation come down as snow.”