A look at the current statewide snowpack

01/27/27 8pm: Since we are in between storm systems thought it would be a good time to check-in on the snowpack. The statewide snowpack is currently at 89% of normal (median) and that is basically unchanged since I posted about it in Dec 20th, when it was 90%...but that is because northern CO snowpack has gone up while southern CO snowpack has gone done.. We entered a more normal mid-winter La Nina flow pattern (and the fact that the PDO is negative puts the storm track north as well).

Second image shows the statewide time-series compared to the previous 7 seasons (going back to the 2017-2018 season: pink line which was dismal). Currently the statewide snowpack is pretty similar to last year but now below some of the top recent years like 2022-2023 and 2018-2019.

But looking at the actual river basins (first image) tells the story of where the snowfall has and hasn't been this season. Great to see the Front Range mountains (South Platte River Basin) climb to the top spot currently sitting at 106% of average and the I-70 ski areas right adjacent to that (Colorado River Basin) is holding the second spot with 97% of average. Also good to see areas near Steamboat ( Laramie and North Platte) climb to 94% of average.

Lowest snowpack is of course in the San Juans where they have had very little snow since late November (for example Wolf Creek has picked up 20" of new snow since beginning of Dec), so the snowpack for the western San Juans has fallen to 68% of normal and the eastern San Juans are at 70%...its even worse southwest of there in southeast UT.

Below I show current river basin snowpack percent of normal (median), ranked from current highest to lowest. I also include the change since Dec 20th (the last time I posted about the snowpack). Interesting to see the changes.

• South Platte (Front Range mountains): 106% (up from 91%)

• Colorado Headwaters (Grand, Summit, Eagle, Pitkin co. ski areas): 97% (up from 95%)

• Laramie and North Platte (east-side Zirkel, west-side Cameron): 94% (up from 79%)

• Yampa-White-Little Snake (Steamboat / Flat Tops): 92% (up from 77%)

• Arkansas (Collegiates, Sangres, Pikes Peak): 90% (down from 114%)

• Gunnison (south Elks, West Elks, CB area): 88% (down from 100%)

• Upper Rio Grande (Easter San Juans, Wolf Creek): 70% (down from 91%)

• San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan (Western San Juans, Telluride, Silverton, Purg): 68%

I have also include a look at the current West-wide snowpack (third image)...Its been a strange season with many areas below average of course with the biggest deficits in the southwest US (AZ, NM, southern UT, etc). The area with highest snowpack is across parts of northern CA, OR, southern WA and then across to eastern MT (bolstered by the recent arctic outbreaks and upslope).

Lastly I included a look at Seasonal Snowfall to Date (since Sep 1st, fourth image) for all the U.S. Fifth image is zoomed in over the west. But you can see some parts of the southeast (New Orleans to Pensacola) have picked up more snow than parts of KS, SD and ND this season...pretty wild.

What are your thoughts on the statewide snowpack? Across the west? Of course we have so much of the season still to go, CO snowpack does not peak until around April 15th, so the numbers will continue to change...lets hope they stay positive over CO with more snow especially for southern CO (and northern CO)....we shall see.