Niwot Ridge LTER Snow Report for Feb 2007
Niwot Ridge LTER Snow Report for February 28th, 2007

Greetings! The snowpack at Niwot Ridge (C1) for the end of February remains above average. State wide, The Front Range snowpack is above average, and the snowpack in the western half of the state is less than average. Across the West, Washington and New Mexico remain the only states with above average SWE.

Hand measurements made on February 28th, 2007 show 14.375 inches of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) for 139% of the 1982-2007 average hand measurements, and a snow depth of 50.75 inches. This is the 4th highest end of February SWE measurement in this record. SNOTEL is reporting 13.4 inches of SWE for 137% of average.

The South Platte River Basin is at 111% of average SWE, and 111% of average total accumulated precipitation. State wide the Arkansas River Basin has the highest percent of average SWE; the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan River Basins have the lowest percent of average SWE (115%, 76% respectively). The South Platte River Basin has the highest percent of average total accumulated precipitation; the Yampa and White River Basins also has the lowest percent of average total accumulated precipitation (111%, 89%).

Across the West, the end of February looks very similar to the end of January. Washington remains the only state with above average Percent SWE and above average Percent Accumulated Precipitation (116% SWE, 113% Accum Precip). New Mexico is the only other state with above average percent SWE (108%). Nevada and The California Great Basin sites still have the lowest percent of average SWE (64%, 65%). Arizona has the lowest percent of accumulated precipitation followed by the California Great Basin sites (63%, 71%). The Snowpack Index (SI) is greater than one in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, the Arkansas River Basin, and the Lower Colorado River Basin, and less than one through out the rest of the Western US.

Until next month

Kurt

Sno Tel Data  Niwot Ridge, C-1
Snow Water Content (inches)
Values are for the end of given month
except as noted for May and June

Season	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May		Jun	
81/82	4.75	10.5	11.75	15.5	14.9	12	(17th)		
82/83	3.63		4.75	12.75	17	11.75	(30th)		
83/84	12.6	13.25	15	18.9	20.75				
84/85	3.75	6.25	8.5	10.25	8.75				
85/86	6.5	7.5	14	15.38	17.5				
86/87	6.25	8.75	11.25	12.75	11.75				
87/88	6.5	9.1	12.4	15.75	14.5				
88/89	5.5	7.6	11	10.25	5.6				
89/90	6.5	9.25	10.75	16.1	16.5				
90/91	3	5	7.1	9.38	10				
91/92	6.65	6.75	8.5	12.25	10.25				
92/93	5.75	6.75	10.75	14	15.875				
93/94	7.125	9.063	12.25	13.25	13.25	2.5	(18th)		
94/95	2.625	3.925	7	10.125	16.75	17	(22nd)	12.375(13th)	19.75(30th)
95/96	7.5	12	17.5	20.375	18.75	6.125	(15th)		
96/97	8.75	12.625	15.125	14.625	20.375	18	(15th)
97/98	7.0625	10	10.125	12.875	17.25	12.875	(15th)
98/99	3.25	6.625	8.375	9.125	14.125	14.25	(15th)
99/2000	3.5	7.5	10.625	12.375	7.625		
00/2001	4.375	5.375	7.125	10	9.125		
01/2002	2.625	4.25	6.19	7.563	0		
02/2003	4	5.25	8.5	16.75	14.375	11.44	(15th)
03/2004	2.75	4.813	7.75	7.875	10.125	3.69	(14th)
04/2005	4.875	7.7	9.5	11.625	12.875	12.25	(15th)
05/2006	5.625	8.375	9.5	13.25	6.75	0.875	(15th)
06/2007	9.25	11.5	14.375				

Average	5.57	7.99	10.37	12.92	12.99