Environmental Assessment: Improve Meteorological Monitoring in Alpine Environments

Weather and climate are key drivers in the structure, composition, and function of the North Cascades' ecosystem. Weather and climate patterns in the North Cascades are strongly influenced by the mountainous topography of the North Cascade Range and the maritime influence of the Pacific Ocean, creating extreme variability with elevation and distance. This variability is not fully captured by the current network of climate and hydro-meteorological monitoring stations because the few advanced monitoring stations are sparsely distributed and located at low to mid-elevations (1650-4600 ft).

In an effort to improve monitoring and management of natural resources, enhance the efficiency of hydropower power production, and enable better forecasting of flood events in the Skagit River watershed, the NPS completed this Environmental Assessment on meteorological monitoring in Alpine Environments in September 2007.

Document Content:

SNOTEL EA   (2.6 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.