Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Roaring Fork snowpack down to 96% normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin reached an average of 12.2 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on Feb. 25, or 96% of median. That’s up from 11.8 inches on Feb. 18 but down from 102% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 84.7% of median on Feb. 25 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 10.5 inches, up from 10 inches and down from 86.7% of normal on Feb. 18. Last year on Feb. 25, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 12.3 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 10.6 inches on Feb. 25 or 82% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 10.3 inches on Feb. 18. Last year, on Feb. 25, the station measured a snowpack holding 19.6 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 13.2 inches of SWE on Feb. 25, or 116.8% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 12.6 inches of SWE on Feb. 25, which is down from 12.2 inches on Feb. 18.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 20.5 inches on Feb. 25, which represents 88% of median. That’s up from 19.5 inches on Feb. 18. 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 water levels keep going down
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On Feb. 25, the reservoir was 34.18% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Feb. 18 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 34.42%.
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 Feb. 25, 2023, the reservoir was 22.88% full.
On Feb. 25, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,562.6 feet, or 137.4 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,563.3 feet on Feb. 18. Last year, on Feb. 25 the reservoir reached 3,521.31 feet in elevation, or 178.69 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.
Swinging air temperatures
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport went from 48°F on Feb. 6 to 29°F on Feb. 11 before going up to 47°F on Feb. 19 and dropping to 36°F on Feb. 22, which is 3 degrees below normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 2°F on Feb. 18 to 28°F on Feb. 20 and dropping to 17°F on Feb. 23.
