Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Roaring Fork basin snowpack is now above normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin reached an average of 15.1 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on March 10, or 109% of median after last week’s storm. That’s up from 13.4 inches on March 3 and from 100% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 94.9% of median on March 10 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 13.1 inches, up from 12.1 inches and from 91% of normal on March 3. Last year on March 10, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 13.3 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 12.4 inches on March 10 or 86% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 11.2 inches on March 3. Last year, on March 10, the station measured a snowpack holding 21.6 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 15.7 inches of SWE on March 10, or 126.6% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 15.3 inches of SWE on March 10, which is up from 13.5 inches on March 3.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 26 inches on March 10, which represents 102% of median. That’s up from 22.9 inches on March 3. 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 about eight inches of water since last week
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On March 10, the reservoir was 33.7% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from March 3 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 33.93%.
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 10, 2023, the reservoir was 22.7% full.
On March 10, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,561 feet, or 139 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,561.7 feet on March 3. Last year, on March 10 the reservoir reached 3,520.5 feet in elevation, or 179.5 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 35°F on Feb. 28 to 48°F on March 1 before dropping to 34°F on March 3 and 36°F on March 8, which is about 6 degrees below normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from -7 on Feb. 28 to 23°F on March 2 before dropping to 18°F on March 8.
