From the Aurora Sentinel (Sara Castellanos):
“Snowpack totals early in the season aren’t generally considered a reliable indicator of the following year’s water supply,” Baker said. “Most of Colorado’s snow falls in the late winter and early spring.” [Greg Baker, spokesman for the city’s water department] said when snow falls in December it either melts off or evaporates, so it’s not necessary to test the levels until February. While parts of Colorado’s High Country have been pummeled with snow, some parts of southern Colorado are showing signs of drought, which may pose threats to the water supply in some cities. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists the entire Lower Arkansas Valley east of Pueblo as having severe drought conditions. The Rio Grande basin is categorized as abnormally dry. The areas have not seen significant rainfall since mid-summer.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports that the snowpack in the Rio Grande is the lowest in the state at 77 percent of average. In western Colorado, meanwhile, the Upper Colorado River basin is at 142 percent.
From The Aspen Times (Scott Condon):
The four ski areas are running between 13 and 22 percent above the 30-year average for snowfall in November and December to date, Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle said Monday. Snowmass has received 98 inches of snow in November and so far in December, with another storm forecast to hit before the new year…
Aspen Mountain received 90 inches of snow in November and December. The December storms that rolled in one right after another before Christmas deposited loads of wet, heavy snow that drastically boosted the ski areas beyond their 30-year averages, Hanle said. Snowfall totals were about average in November, although many locals felt it was wetter because the last few Novembers had been so dry. But December’s snowfall was between 16 and 42 percent above average for all local ski areas, according to Hanle. Snowmass enjoyed a particularly high bounty…
Snowpack figures tracked by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a federal agency, are consistent with the Skico’s findings on its slopes. The agency measures snowpack at seven places in the Roaring Fork River basin, including a site between Aspen and the summit of Independence Pass. That site showed the snowpack was 132 percent of average on Monday. The sites include three in the Crystal River Valley and three in the Fryingpan River Valley. All were considerably above the 30-year average. In the Fryingpan, the Ivanhoe site was 136 percent of average; the Kiln site was 139 percent of average; and the Nast Lake site was at 139 percent of average. In the Crystal Valley, Schofield was at 149 percent of average; North Lost Trail near Marble was at 164 percent of average; and McClure Pass was at 147 percent of average. As a whole, the Roaring Fork River basin was at 145 percent of average on Monday. The NRCS data shows other impressive snowpack totals in other parts of the state as well. Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat was at 180 percent of average while Copper Mountain was at 191 percent of average. Wolf Creek was at 139 percent of average. Vail Mountain was at 103 percent of its average.