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ASPEN, Colorado — There’s been all sorts of talk this winter about record and near-record snowfalls, but how does this winter stack up historically?
The Natural Resources Conservation Service uses seven automated sites in the Roaring Fork Basin — and dozens throughout Colorado — to measure snowpack.
One of those sites is east of Aspen, at the headwaters of the Roaring Fork River.
The NRCS data posted online goes back to 1981. According to those records, the snowpack recorded east of Aspen on April 4 this year was the highest for that date in the last 27 years.
The “snow water equivalent” — essentially the measure of moisture in the snowpack — was at 23.5 inches. In comparison, it was 21.8 inches on that date in 1984, generally regarded as one of Aspen’s best winters for skiers. The snowpack produced a snow water equivalent of 21 inches for that date in both 1996 and 1997.
No other readings came close to matching this year.
NRCS officials say the snowpack in Colorado’s high country generally peaks around the second week of April. Some winters, the faucet doesn’t turn off and the snowpack keeps building.
Therefore, the April 4 snowpack level this year isn’t an all-time record, according to the NRCS data. The snow kept falling in 1984, boosting the snow water equivalent to 24.1 inches later in April and 26.7 inches in May.
The highest snowpack reading for any date in the last 27 years was recorded on May 19, 1995, when the snow water equivalent maxed out at 27.7 inches. That’s about 17 percent higher than Aspen’s current snowpack.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service uses seven automated sites in the Roaring Fork Basin — and dozens throughout Colorado — to measure snowpack.
One of those sites is east of Aspen, at the headwaters of the Roaring Fork River.
The NRCS data posted online goes back to 1981. According to those records, the snowpack recorded east of Aspen on April 4 this year was the highest for that date in the last 27 years.
The “snow water equivalent” — essentially the measure of moisture in the snowpack — was at 23.5 inches. In comparison, it was 21.8 inches on that date in 1984, generally regarded as one of Aspen’s best winters for skiers. The snowpack produced a snow water equivalent of 21 inches for that date in both 1996 and 1997.
No other readings came close to matching this year.
NRCS officials say the snowpack in Colorado’s high country generally peaks around the second week of April. Some winters, the faucet doesn’t turn off and the snowpack keeps building.
Therefore, the April 4 snowpack level this year isn’t an all-time record, according to the NRCS data. The snow kept falling in 1984, boosting the snow water equivalent to 24.1 inches later in April and 26.7 inches in May.
The highest snowpack reading for any date in the last 27 years was recorded on May 19, 1995, when the snow water equivalent maxed out at 27.7 inches. That’s about 17 percent higher than Aspen’s current snowpack.
