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The snowstorm that slammed good parts of Colorado over the weekend has nudged the stateâs snowpack levels ever-closer to normal, the continuation of a welcome trend for a state still gripped by drought.
Natural Resources Conservation Service data on Tuesday showed that snow water equivalent, or the amount of water in the stateâs snow, is at 92% of median. That compares to 85% just before mid-month in February and only about three-quarters of normal around a month before that.
Snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin in Colorado is now sitting at 89% of median, compared to 82% a little more than a month ago, and the Gunnison River Basin is at 86%, a 7% increase during that same time period.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the SNOTEL snowpack percentage as a measurement to-date, rather than the annual averages, which are still very low.
Glenwood Springs got a taste of some of the winter storms happening across the nation, but to a lesser extent. Megan Stackhouse, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction said as of…
Coloradoâs snowpack this winter continues to lag behind normal â much less the above-normal amount needed for the state to escape from a continuing drought â but it has improved thanks to recent storms, and more moisture is on the way.
Snowpack in the state as of Wednesday was at 85% of median, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Services. Thatâs up from 74% just under a month ago, and reflects a wetter recent weather pattern that has dropped multiple feet of powder on some Colorado ski areas.
Snowpack levels have shown similar increases in the Upper Colorado River and Gunnison River drainages, which now sit at 82% and 79% of median, respectively. The Gunnison drainage currently is the driest major basin in the state, with the Upper Rio Grande Basin having the highest amount of snowpack at 103% of median.