During the month of May, snow depth at Quelccaya summit has increased in about
half of all years since 2004. By the beginning of June the
dry season has typically begun, and until early August, snowfall is only
associated with occasional, relatively-brief winter precipitation
events.
For the accumulation season 2012-13, snowdepth on 1 June amounted to
1.70 meters,
increased slightly by a mid-May snowfall event. This accumulation
season is thus second only to 2009-10 (1.64 m) in terms of low snowfall,
and
considerably below the median 1 June depth of 2.06 m. In contrast,
La Niña year 2007-08
saw the greatest snowdepth on 1 June, at 2.40 m.
This update will be the last on accumulation until after our
fieldwork, when among other activities we will measure density and
determine the water equivalent accumulation for 2012-13. This will
provide a more accurate measure of precipitation, and put the
accumulation season into a proper longer-term context. Hopefully, we will encounter easy digging!
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