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Biggest totals east of the Continental Divide

Colorado's snowpack grew during February.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After a couple of lean months, Colorado’s snowpack made a significant comeback in February, climbing to near 80 percent statewide, and the month looks to end with one last significant storm crossing the state Tuesday.

The highest totals are still east of the Continenal Divide — unusual for a La Niña year — with an 87 percent reading in the Arkansas Basin, 85 percent in the upper Rio Grande, 75 percent in the North Platte and 90 percent in the South Platte Basin, which is a crucial basin for Front Range water supplies and affects how much water will need to be diverted from the Western Slope.

West of the Continental Divide, the Colorado River Basin snowpack is now at 75 percent of average, up slightly from the beginning of the month. The northwest corner of the state made the biggest gains, as the Yampa and White River basins saw the biggest dumps of snow in the past few weeks, lifting the snowpack to 75 percent of average.

And in the southwestern corner of the state, the San Miguel, Dolores and Animas basins are now at a respectable 79 percent of average, with the Gunnnison Basin at 75 percent.

This year's snowpack (orange) compared to the average, maximum and minimum.

The snowpack gets skimpier farther west, with many locations in California below 50 percent. In the Southwest, where early season storms promised drought relief, the snowpack has dropped to below average in Arizona’s high country, but remains close to average across New Mexico.

Snowpack readings across the West remain a mixed bag.

A weakening La Niña is forecast for the next several months, with a return to “neutral” conditions in the Pacific by summer. The long-term outlook favors below average precipitation for the spring months, but the eight to 14-day outlook still shows a typical La Niña footprint.

With the jet stream now in a typical La Niña pattern, the next couple of weeks could bring above average snow to western Colorado.

Filed under: climate and weather, La Niña, Snow and weather, Summit County snow and weather Tagged: | Colorado snowpack, Colorado weather, February storm totals Colorado, La Niña, western snowpack