27 Volume 10 No. 1 – June 1937

Snowfall, Precipitation and Lake Levels

By W. T. Frost, Ranger and John E. Doerr, Jr., Park Naturalist

A combination of many features makes Crater Lake an outstanding scenic attraction as well as a most interesting and unique lake. John Wesley Hillman, the discoverer of Crater Lake, recorded in a description of the discovery that he and his companions were impressed with a number of features, among them, that the lake apparently had no inlet and no outlet. That characteristic feature of Crater Lake continues to impress thousands of visitors viewing the lake today from numerous observation points on the rim of the crater in which it is cupped. The realization that there is neither a visible inlet nor outlet, combined with the fact that the water of the lake is fresh, and that its location in the top of a mountain, the structure of which is such as to eliminate the possibility of the lake being fed by appreciable amounts of water from springs, stimulates many questions. Many of the questions concerning the source of water, loss of water, its purity, and changes in lake levels, seasonal as well as changes over a period of years, can be answered. The answers to many of the questions about the unique features of Crater Lake are based on observations which have been made for a number of years.

For this article on Snowfall, Precipitation and Lake Levels of Crater Lake, Ranger W. T. Frost has prepared compiled data for an interesting graph and several charts. Those will be of great value in helping visitors in the park and readers of Nature Notes to gain an appreciation of some of the unique features of Crater Lake.

The observation of snowfall and precipitation at Crater Lake, or, expressed in another manner, observations of inflow of Crater Lake, since the lake receives its water entirely from snow and rain falling within the crater rim, as well as observations of changes in lake levels are not only interesting but of practical value in estimating the supply of spring water in the park, and the inflow of water into streams and lakes beyond the boundaries of the park.

It is interesting to note, from data compiled by the U. S. Reclamation Service, that during the period 1905-1915, when the level of Crater Lake varied less than two feet, the inflow of Upper Klamath Lake – in the valley south of Crater Lake – remained fairly constant. During the period 1915-1934 there has been a constant but gradual lowering of the level of Crater Lake, and a fairly constant decrease in the inflow of Upper Klamath Lake. Since 1934 the level of Crater Lake has varied within 0.89 of a foot and the inflow of Upper Klamath Lake has increased slightly. It is evident that accurate observation of snowfall, precipitation, and lake levels at Crater Lake increase our knowledge of the lake, and certainly such observations are of value to organizations outside the park that are concerned with supply and distribution of water, an appreciable amount of which is no doubt the seepage from Crater Lake.

SNOWFALL AT CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK


Month 1936-37 1935-36 1934-35 1933-34 1932-33 1931-32 Average
5 seasons

July .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00
August .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00 .00
September 6.00 .00 5.80 4.00 .00 3.00 2.56
October .00 36.80 28.90 26.00 33.00 31.00 31.14
November .50 29.50 128.00 20.00 61.00 114.00 70.50
December 98.30 90.50 113.50 142.70 156.00 151.50 130.80
January 213.35 179.00 117.00 96.30 256.00 132.50 166.16
February 151.00 100.00 56.00 38.40 130.00 69.00 78.68
March 86.50 75.00 129.00 10.90 91.00 111.00 83.38
April 87.00 29.00 62.00 31.00 49.00 91.00 52.40
May 18.00 20.00 .00 10.00 103.00 38.00 34.20
June .00


.00


.00


2.00


.00


.00


.40


Total (in.) 66.65 559.80 640.00 381.70 879.00 791.00 650.22
Total (ft.) 55.05 46.6 53.3 31.8 73.2 65.9  54.185

 

AVERAGE SNOWFALL FOR 15 YEARS
July .00
August .00
September 3.80
October 20.30
November 49.50
December 86.10
January 96.00
February 66.00
March 63.60
April 41.20
May 18.30
June 1.30


Total (in.) 448.10
Total (ft.) 37.34


(click on image for an enlargement in a new window)

COMPARISON OF CHANGES IN LAKE LEVELS WITH CHANGES IN SNOWFALL AND PRECIPITATION IN CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK


 

Year Low Lake Level
of the year
Number of Feet below
High Point of 1910
Total Seasonal
Snowfall
(Feet)
Total seasonal
Precipitation
(Inches)
1908 6175.94  1.23
1909 6176.33   .84
1910 6177.17 Highest level
1911 6175.62  1.55
1912 6175.92  1.25 No records
1913 6175.56   .61

1918 6173.50  3.67
1919 6172.75  4.42
1920 6171.75  5.42 20.3
1921 6173.75  3.42 34.6
1922 6173.54  3.63 23.2
1923 6171.83  5.34 24.0
1924 6170.17  7.00 18.2
1925 6170.08  7.09 34.1
1926 6168.33  8.84
1927 6169.75  7.42 52.3
1928 6168.58  8.59  7.5
1929 6166.91 10.26
1930 6165.61 11.56 30.3
1931 6163.26 13.91 22.6
1932 6163.71 13.46 65.9 74.91
1933 6164.46 12.71 73.2 75.46
1934 6163.41 13.76 31.8 54.22
(Lowest record)
1935 6164.30 12.87 53.3 72.23
1936 6163.81 13.36 46.6 55.30

(Wed Edition Note: This table contains revisions that were identified in Nature Notes Vol. X, No. 3)

COMPARISON TABLE OF SEASONAL VARIATION IN LAKE LEVEL


 

Year Period Number of feet variation
during the year
(in feet)
Seasonal
Snowfall
(in feet)

1936 June 10 – Sept 5 1.25 46.6
1935 June 27 – Sept 2 1.06 53.3
1934 June 15 – Oct 1 1.95 31.8
1928 July 1 – Oct 1 2.33 27.5
1926 May 22 – Sept 15 1.66
1925 July 1 – Sept 22 1.66 34.1
1924 June 2 – Sept 2 1.38 18.2
1923 July 1 – Sept 24 1.10 24.0
Average seasonal variation 1.55 33.64

Lake level is falling at an average rate of .51 foot per year.
(Estimated from figures over a 26 year period).

PRECIPITATION AT CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK


 

Month 1936-37 1935-36 1934-35 1933-34 1932-33 1931-32 Average
5 seasons

July .63 1.48 .11 .00 .37 .06 .404
August .00 .62 .88 .42 .39 .40 .542
September 1.50 .35 .73 4.59 .00 2.74 1.682
October .00 5.19 9.91 3.90 3.85 6.39 5.848
November .07 2.45 15.59 1.63 8.04 11.03 7.748
December 10.50 6.27 14.11 13.94 12.07 14.14 12.106
January 9.59 18.41 10.16 3.47 10.12 4.45 6.528
February 9.66 9.89 4.71 3.47 10.12 4.45 6.528
March 6.53 3.83 8.28 6.28 7.06 11.97 7.494
April 2.03 7.07 4.04 3.58 6.45 4.634
May 2.22 .26 2.65 9.03 3.75 3.582
June
2.51


.42


1.89


4.70


.12


1.928


Total Inches 55.30 72.23 54.22 75.46 74.91 66.424