Mono Basin: Precipitation

Rainfall in the Mono Basin varies considerably with elevation. Vorster (1985, 57) notes that high elevation stations record mean annual precipitation of 20-40 inches. Low elevation stations (such as the station on the east shore of Mono Lake) record as little as 4 inches/yr.

Vorster also reports that estimates of average annual precipitation for the basin can vary from around 7 to 11 inches/year from one study to another. Vorster's (1985, 63) estimate is 8 inches/yr based on the 1937-1983 time period. His estimate matches the estimate by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Vorster's model calculates the precipitation flow as the product of the precipitation rate and the surface area of the lake. If the lake covered 39 thousand acres, for example, the preciptation flow would be around 26 KAF/yr:

29 KAF/yr = 39 Kacres * 0.67 ft/yr

Note: You might be concerned that the precipitation flow is based on the surface of the lake rather than the area for the basin as a whole. If so, be sure to take note of Vorster's treatment of "net land land surface precipitation," one of the other in flows to the basin.