Summit County Citizens Voice

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Snowfall lagging so far this year

Colorado snowpack hovered near average east of the Continental Divide and about 20 percent below average to the west.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY —Snowfall lagged below average in November at both local National Weather Service observation sites, with weather watcher Rick Bly measuring 14.81 inches at his station in downtown Breckenridge, about 22 percent below the average reading for the month, at 20.89 inches.

In Dillon, where Denver Water personnel measure snowfall, the monthly total was 10.5 inches, compared to the historic average of 15.3 inches.

Bly said wind events during November made the snowfall measurement somewhat problematic, explaining that the snow-water equivalent of the monthly snowfall was a little closer to the average, at 1.15 inches compared to the normal reading of 1.5 inches.

For the weather year to-date (October and December), precipitation thus far is about 22 percent below average. Last year, Bly had measured total snowfall of 37 inches for the year-to-date; this year, the total is 33 inches.

At the Dillon site, the snow-water equivalent for the monthly snowfall was less than half of average, at 0.48 inches compared to the historic average of exactly 1 inch.

NOAA's two-week snowpack animation. Click to see the animated loop.

The average daily high temperature at the Dillon site matched up to the long-term historic average exactly, at 40.9 degrees, but the average daily low temperature was well above average, at 11.5 degrees (average 9.9 degrees).

Temperatures climbed into the 50s six times and reached to 40s 12 times. There were only five days with sub-freezing highs. Nov. 27 was the coldest day of month, reaching only 24 degrees — and that was also only one of two days with sub-zero low temperatures, at minus 3 degrees.

Average snowfall in December is 22.4 inches in Breckenridge, and old-timers may remember the all-time record December back in 1983, when Ullr delivered 86.9 inches for the month.

The driest December on record was in 1911, with just 2.7 inches of snow.

Filed under: climate and weather, La Niña, Snow and weather, Summit County snow and weather Tagged: | Colorado, November 2011 weather statistics, Summit County snow, weather