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| Snowpack readings at fourth-lowest level in 30 years | |||
| Monday, January 09, 2012 18:46 |
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By JANICE KURBJUN, SUMMIT DAILY NEWS The current snow drought in central Colorado has the Colorado River Basin — which includes Summit County — at 60 percent of average snowpack and 41 percent of last year's snow totals for the same time last year. Statewide, Colorado's snowpack was 71 percent of average and 52 percent of last year's readings as of January 1. It's the fourth-lowest New Year's Day snowpack measured in the last 30 years, and the lowest since January 1, 2002, when the snowpack was at 65 percent of average. That year turned out to be a very dry one. Other areas of the state are faring better than the Colorado Basin, with early season upslope storms in October and November keeping the South Platte basin at 80 percent of average as of January 1. The Arkansas and Upper Rio Grande basins have the highest snowpack in the state, at 96 and 92 percent of average, respectively. Last year, these two basins recorded well-below average snowfall. |
