Here’s the release from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Mage Hultstrand):
Snowfall in March produced a nominal increase in the statewide snowpack percentage, according to Phyllis Ann Philipps, State Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The latest snow surveys confirm that statewide snowpack has increased slightly from 73 percent of median on March 1 to 74 percent on April 1. This is the third consecutive month that the snowpack has increased by just 1 percentage point. Most major basins saw slight improvements to snowpack percentages during March. While the state snowpack remains well below normal, the good news is that most basins continue to accumulate snow and have yet to reach their peaks for the year.
The exception is in the southwest portion of the state which saw significant decreases in snowpack percentages this month. The Gunnison, Upper Rio Grande and the combined San Miguel, Animas, Dolores, and San Juan basins had declines of 3, 11 and 12 percentage points respectively. In these basins it is likely that they have already reached their peak snowpack for this year and are headed into the melt phase.
In the Yampa and White River basins, the snowpack increased from 75 percent of median last month to 78 percent as of April 1. The Colorado River basin’s snowpack increased from 70 percent to 74 percent of the median. The South Platte and North Platte River basins’ snowpack’s both increased by 6 percentage points and the Arkansas River basin had an increase of 3 percentage points.
In a typical winter the state receives around 20 percent of its seasonal snow accumulation during March. This winter however, March precipitation recorded at SNOTEL sites was well below normal with the exception of the South Platte and Colorado River basins. With April 8, the average date the snowpack reaches its peak in this state, less than a week away; there is almost no chance that the snowpack will reach normal conditions before beginning to melt.
Reservoir storage remains well below average statewide and all major basins in Colorado are expected to see below average streamflow runoff this spring and summer.
Click on the thumbnail graphic above to view the NRCS’s table for snowpack and reservoir storage.