Last winter, the snowpack in the Olympic mountains was extremely low. The measurement station near Hurricane Ridge (at elevation 5110 ft) recorded a snowpack that was less than 8% of average on February 15. There was enough precipitation but it fell as rain (rainfall was 104% of average) and warmer temperatures melted whatever did fall as snow. Snow is our water storage for summer, here on the Olympic Peninsula. The creeks and rivers will lack water for salmon runs and human uses. It will also be a dangerous fire season, with the Paradise fire in the Queets valley (western side of the park) already consuming 1000 acres in steep terrain.
View from Hurricane Hill showing very little snow and smoke from Paradise Fire - June 22, 2015.
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Snails, fish, insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located.
So what will the lack of snow and warm winter mean for the wildflowers at Hurricane Ridge?
Avalanche lily, May 22, 2015
I've talked in previous buckets (The Daily Bucket - Chocolate and Other Delights and The Daily Bucket - Where have all those flowers gone?) about my unscientific project to record the blooming times of wildflowers on the Hurricane Hill trail. Each year since 2009, Mr. Watt and I have hiked this trail multiple times during the wildflower season. I've taken thousands of photos and identified as many flowers as I can. As I learn more about plants and about how to take better photos for the purpose of identification, I still discover new flowers that I never noticed before. So, even though I'm recording a lot of observations, I know my earlier efforts missed a lot of flowers and my data are incomplete. Oh well, forge ahead and gather more data.
With the light snowpack, I expected the wildflowers to be early. So we've already been up to Hurricane Ridge twice this season - once on May 22 and again on June 22. I'll try to include photos of some different wildflowers than I showed in the previous buckets.
For those familiar with the Olympics, early spring wildflowers mean Glacier and Avalanche lilies. May 22 delivered both!
Glacier lily, May 22, 2015
I was amazed at the number of different flowers already blooming in May. At the beginning of the trail, Smooth douglasia was offering vivid color. After learning where to find them last year (June 11, 2014), I saw many more Chocolate lilies than I expected to see so early. Lupine and Larkspur provided the blues. There seemed to be fewer patches of Spreading phlox than in June of last year, so we may still have been early for it. The Prairie smoke was just starting to flower at the higher elevations.
Smooth douglasia (pinnk) interspersed with Spreading phlox (white), May 22, 2015
Rockslide larkspur, May 22, 2015 (species still blooming on June 22, 2015)
Last year, June 11 was dominated by the early spring flowers. This year, the transition to summer was already well underway on June 22. Columbia lilies and Wooly daisies filled the meadows at the beginning of the trail with yellow and orange.
Columbia lily, June 22, 2015
Wooly daisy, June 22, 2015
Nodding arnica, June 22, 2015
At the higher elevations, the Prairie smoke was now in its seed phase. Western bistort was starting to take over the meadows as it does in summertime. There were some nice flowers at the rock outcrop at trail's end. This tiny penstemon was only a few inches tall.
Small-flowered penstemon, June 22, 2015
I will need to go back to see the Pasque flower's monkey-on-a-stick seed phase!
Pasque flower and Tufted saxifrage, June 22, 2015
Here are lists of all the flowers I was able to ID:
5/22/15
Lyall's Rockcress (Arabis lyallii), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.), Western Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata), Rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum), Smooth douglasia (Douglasia laevigata), Wandering daisy (Erigeron peregrinus), Western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum), Glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum), Avalanche lily (Erythronium montanum), Chocolate or checker lily (Fritillaria affinis), Old man's whiskers or Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum), Martindales desert parsley (Lomatium martindalei), Lupine (Lupinus sp.), Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea), Spreading Phylox (Phlox diffusa), Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus flammula), Early blue violet (Viola adunca).
6/22/15
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Olympic onion (Allium crenulatum), Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea), Pasque flower (Anemone occidentalis), Wooly pussytoes (Antennaria lanata), Rosy pussytoes (Antennaria rosea), Mountain or threadleaved sandwort (Arenaria capillaris), Heartleaf Arnica (Arnica cordifolia), Nodding Arnica (Arnica parryi), Western mugwort (Artemisia ludoviciana), Olympic aster (Aster paucicapitatus), Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp.), Indian Thistle (Cirsium edule), Rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum), Yellow coralbells (Elmera racemosa), Hornemann's willowherb (Epilobium hornemannii), Cut-Leaved Daisy (Erigeron compositus), Wandering daisy (Erigeron peregrinus), Wooly daisy or Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum), Western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum), Old man's whiskers or Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum), Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum), Columbia lily (Lilium columbianum), Martindales desert parsley (Lomatium martindalei), Barestem desert parsley (Lomatium nudicaule), Lupine (Lupinus sp.), Mountain owl clover (Orthocarpus imbricatus), Mountain Oxytropis or Locoweed (Oxytropis monticola), Parrotbeak (Pedicularis racemosa), Small-flowered penstemon (Penstemon procerus), Narrow-sepaled Phacelia (Phacelia leptosepalia), Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea), Pink mountain heather (Phyllodoce empetriformis), Alaska Rein-orchid (Piperia unalascensis), Western Bistort (Polygonum bistortoides), Fan-leaf cinquefoil (Potentilla flabellifolia), Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana), Dwarf bramble (Rubus lasiococcus), Tufted saxifrage (Saxifraga caespitosa), Lance leaf stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum), Douglas's catchfly (Silene douglasii), Rosy Spirea (Spiraea splendens), Cusick's speedwell (Veronica cusickii), American vetch (Vicia americana).
~~~
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at 1:00 pm Pacific Time and Wednesday at 3:30 pm PT on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.