A view of the Sangres from the Riggs Ranch which is protected by a conservation easement. Last week the Sangres received more than 3 feet of snow.
The South Colony site near Westcliffe saw its snowpack increase from 72% on February 24 to 90% on March 5. The other three sites reported similar increases. With last week’s heavy snow, a “normal” snowpack may still be possible by May, when most of the agricultural producers in our area will need it.
Looking at the week ahead, the weather forecast looks dry and warm. I would suspect this will change soon as historically March and April are the snowiest months in the region.
Here’s a chart of the records for the 4 SNOTEL sites in the San Isabel Region (as of 3/5/2015):
|
SNOTEL Site, and nearest town |
Median Snow Water Equivalent for 3/5/15 |
Actual Snow Water Equivalent for 3/5/15 |
Snow Water Equivalent since 2/24/15 |
Percent of Median |
|
Hayden Pass (Coaldale) |
Incomplete records |
13.2 inches |
2.9 inches |
Incomplete records |
|
South Colony (Westcliffe) |
15.7 inches |
14.2 inches |
3.8 inches |
90.4% |
|
Medano Pass (Gardner) |
5.9 inches |
7.1 inches |
1.6 inches |
120.3% |
|
Ute Creek (Gardner) |
12.5 inches |
9.1 inches |
2.1 inches |
72.8% |
If you are interested in tracking precipitation levels yourself click here: SNOTEL
Mike Downey is the Land Protection Specialist and Colorado Open Lands Fellow for San Isabel Land Protection Trust. When Mike is not working on protecting important and productive ranches, forests, and waters in our region, he can sometimes be found predicting the weather and informing San Isabel staff as to whether or not they should wear layers!
