Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Snowpack at Ivanhoe reaches 137% of normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin is up after recent snowstorms as it reached an average of 17.7 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on March 31, or 114% of median. That’s up from 16 inches on March 24 and 107% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 103.8% of median on March 31 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 16.3 inches, up from 15 inches and 100% of normal on March 24. Last year on March 31, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 16.9 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 14.7 inches on March 31 or 92% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 12.3 inches on March 24. Last year, on March 31, the station measured a snowpack holding 28.4 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 18.4 inches of SWE on March 31, or 137.3% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 18.2 inches of SWE on March 31, which is up from 15.9 inches on March 24.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 31.3 inches on March 31, which represents 107% of median. That’s up from 29.3 inches on March 24. 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 is one-third full
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On March 31, the reservoir was 33.1% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from March 24 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 33.29%.
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 31, 2023, the reservoir was 23.05% full.
On March 31, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,559 feet, or 141 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,559.7 feet on March 24. Last year, on March 31 the reservoir reached 3,522.02 feet in elevation, or 177.98 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.
High air temperatures dropped as low as 20 degrees below normal
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport dropped from 53°F on March 22 to 29°F on March 25, which was about 20 degrees below normal, before reaching 49°F on March 28 and 43°F on March 29. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 30°F on March 23 to 12°F on March 26 before going up to 31°F on March 29.
