For the past 16 years, Steve Johnson has been taking the snow survey at the end of each winter month for what is now the Siskiyou Mountains Ranger District.

But nothing in his experience prepared him for February's reading on Mount Ashland for measuring the snow water content, an important indicator for how much water is being stored in the mountain snowbanks for summer stream flows and reservoir storage.

"Every time we put the (snow survey) tube in the powdery snow and pulled it out, the powder would disappear out the linear gaps in the sides of the tube," Johnson said of Monday's measurement. "We couldn't get accurate core measurements on the three upper elevation sites.

"I've never had that happen before," added Johnson, who was accompanied by Peter Winnick, a snow surveyor with the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest staff and the conservation service work together in measuring the snow survey sites.

Although they had problems measuring the water content, Johnson and Winnick found snow depth at all four sites to be a combined 120 percent of normal.

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But, try as they might, the snow survey veterans could only pull the old wet snow up with the hollow tube in the 17 core samples they took from the three upper elevation sites, Johnson said.

To obtain the snow water content on site, the hollow tube is pushed down through the snow to the ground, then weighed.

"The new snow is low density, very, very light Rocky Mountain snow," he said, noting it is sitting on a layer of very dense wet snow underneath. "The bottom snow is a very wet, granular snow. That top layer is very fluffy."

But they did get accurate readings on the snow depth on all four sites as well as the snow water content for the lower elevation Siskiyou Summit. The summit had a snow depth of 39 inches, making it 229 percent of normal for the end of February. It also had a snow water level of 5.6 inches, reflecting a 106 percent of average for the site this time of year.

The Ski Bowl Road site of 6,000 feet elevation had 78 inches of snow for 115 percent of normal. The snow depth at the Mount Ashland Switchback, 6,500 feet elevation, was 90 inches, or 108 percent of normal. And the Caliban II site, also 6,500 feet elevation, measured 86 inches for 113 percent of average.

Although the two snow surveyors, who skied into the sites, sinking up to their knees in the powdery snow, weren't able to calculate the overall average snow water content, remote snow telemetry measuring devices in the mountains ringing the Rogue and Umpqua basins indicate it is now about 90 percent of normal. Monday's trek took all day, Johnson said.

"We were breaking down through snow up to our knees, almost up to our waists in some cases," he said.

The Mount Ashland Ski Area reported 68 inches of new powdery snow in the past seven days ending Monday, bringing depth to more than 126 inches at the ski and snowboard area. The snow level at the Crater Lake National Park headquarters was at 124 inches. And more snow was reported falling throughout most of Tuesday.

"It's a light fluffy snow but it still holds water and lots of it," Johnson said. "Of course, the snowpack gets more important as you get into March and April.

"But my gut feeling is we will be in fine shape this summer, barring that the faucet doesn't turn off and we get nothing for the rest of the season," he added.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.