It's the first day of June and we're still talking about mountain snow in the Sierra.
"At our SNOTEL site at the ski area there is still 180 percent of normal snow pack for this time of year. So there's almost two winters worth of snow at that snow measuring station," said hydrologist Jeff Anderson.
Mt. Rose is not the only place with a decent amount of snow on the ground.
"Right now, out of 32 SNOTEL sites, 20 of them still have significant snow and normally only six still have snow," added Anderson.
There's a good chance some of the snow will survive the summer season. The melting process is taking a little bit longer in some spots than others. Slow enough for the restrooms at the summit of Mt. Rose to be closed for now and they don't know when they will be open again. We've been seeing about one to three inches of snowmelt each day with a lot of runoff flowing into our waterways. Hydrologists now have a better perspective on our flooding situation. In fact, most of our rivers may have already reached their peak flows, and they will still be running high through the summer season.
"Biggest challenges I think are behind us for now for most basins with the exception of the Walker and creeks and streams in Mono County," said hydrologist Tim Bardsley from the National Weather Service.
Bardsley says the Walker River has yet to reach it's peak flow and might not do so for the next couple of weeks. On the plus side, the flooding threat appears to be tapering off throughout the rest of the area. Granted everything will still be running high and fast through the summer.
