What a difference one storm system can make. The South Platte Basin snowpack went from 86% to 102% of average from May 11 to today.
From The Denver Post (Heather McWilliams):
“Overall, the runoff is expected to be lower than average across the state,” said Mike Gillespie, snow-survey supervisor for the National Resources Conservation Service. Gillespie said that with statewide precipitation totals at about 87 percent of average, the chilly, wet weather would need to linger into June for a turnaround.
The recent wet weather did haul the state back from the brink of a year like 2002, one of the driest on record, said Treste Huse, service hydrologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…
Huse monitors the likelihood of flooding in Colorado and said she doesn’t see much chance of runoff-caused floods this season. “That doesn’t mean we won’t have flash flooding caused by rainstorms, though.”
Gillespie said he’s projecting runoff in the South Platte basin — which includes much of the Front Range — to be about 11 percent below average. But he’s more worried about areas west of the Continental Divide. “The upper Colorado area from Granby to Steamboat is a problem area,” Gillespie said. “Those streams are anywhere from 50 to 75 percent of the average” runoff. That could affect water flow for rafters, irrigation options for farmers and even fish, Gillespie said…
That’s not the only bright spot in Colorado’s water forecast. “Reservoir storage is the best it’s been since 2001,” Gillespie said, with statewide storage 12 percent above average.