Pretty good analysis of the mountain snowpack in the southwest relative to median this morning if you are into red. If you are into a fat spring snowpack and a good runoff, not so much.
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| Source: NRCS |
There are a lot of SNOTEL stations that are at or near zero already in the region. If you want to see how Mother Nature snatched defeat from the jaws of victory this water year, check out the numbers from the Kolob SNOTEL on Kanarra Mountain near Zion National Park in Southern Utah. On January 1, the snowpack sat at 13.3 inches of water, or 180% of median for the day. After that, flatline. Absolutely nothing through February 21.
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| Source: NRCS |
Even after that dry spell, it was just a little below median, but the late winter and early spring storms didn't do the job, snowpack crested below median, and it was gone by May 6, about 2 weeks early.
The best snowpack relative to median is in the mountains of northern Colorado. For example, at the aptly named Never Summer SNOTEL in the Never Summer Range, the snowpack actually peaked just above median before the melt began in earnest. The site sits right at median today, with 20.9 inches of water.
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| Source: NRCS |
That's actually not far behind the Snowbird SNOTEL which sits at 25.1 inches (not shown).
Another year of dismal runoff in the Colorado River Basin.
A Utah sport fishing site conditions post in 2021 had jordanelle listed at 67.1% for 5/17/21 and this year it is at just over 54% so looking like things are getting significantly worse than last year.
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