Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Snowpack up and reaches normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin reached an average of 13.4 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on March 3, or 100% of median. That’s up from 12.2 inches on Feb. 25 and from 96% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 91% of median on March 3 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 12.1 inches, up from 10.5 inches and from 84.7% of normal on Feb. 25. Last year on March 3, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 13 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 11.2 inches on March 3 or 80% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 10.6 inches on Feb. 25. Last year, on March 3, the station measured a snowpack holding 21.2 inches of water.
On the northeast side of the Roaring Fork Basin, snowpack at Ivanhoe, which sits at an elevation of 10,400 feet, reached 14.1 inches of SWE on March 3, or 118.5% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 13.5 inches of SWE on March 3, which is up from 12.6 inches on Feb. 25.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 22.9 inches on March 3, which represents 93% of median. That’s up from 20.5 inches on Feb. 25. Schofield Pass sits at an elevation of 10,700 feet between Marble and Crested Butte.
Snow water equivalent — the metric used to track snowpack — is the amount of water contained within the snowpack, which will become our future water supply running in local rivers and streams.
Lake Powell’s elevation has lost nearly a foot of water since last week
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On March 3, the reservoir was 33.93% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Feb. 25 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 34.18%.
On July 1, 2022, the Bureau of Reclamation revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation. Aspen Journalism in July 2022 published a story explaining the that drop in storage due to sedimentation. We will be now using the 2017-18 sedimentation data only.
On March 3, 2023, the reservoir was 22.78% full.
On March 3, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,561.7 feet, or 138.3 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,562.6 feet on Feb. 25. Last year, on March 3 the reservoir reached 3,520.89 feet in elevation, or 179.11 feet from full pool.
The “minimum power pool” for turbines generating hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam is 3,490 feet, and 3,525 feet has been set as a buffer to ensure that the reservoir and the turbines can continue to function properly.
Air temperatures keep swinging
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport went from 36°F on Feb. 22 to 48°F on Feb. 25 before going down to 37°F on Feb. 27, which is about 3 degrees below normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 9°F on Feb. 24 to 32°F on Feb. 26 and dropping to 2°F on Feb. 27.
Editor’s note: Snowpack data for the Ivanhoe station was updated.