Niwot Ridge LTER Snow Report for Feb 2008
Greetings!

The weather at Niwot Ridge this February has been dominated by zonal airflow; the last half of February has started to feel like spring with warmer temperatures and the first noticeable melt on the road to C1. Hand measurements made at Niwot Ridge C-1 on February 29th, 2008 show 11.0 inches of snow water equivalent (SWE) for 106% of the average hand measurements, and a snow depth of 37.6 inches. SNOTEL is reporting 10.2 inches of SWE for 104% of average. The Niwot Ridge road has some rocks below C1. Warmer temperatures and clear sunny skies have made for some great snow crust development; there is still lots of fluffy snow in the trees and north facing slopes.

The ENSO Diagnostic Discussion issued by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center/NCEP forecasts a moderate-to-strong La Nina condition though the rest of the winter, and weakening through the spring. Expected impacts are above average precipitation in the Northern Rockies, and Pacific Northwest. Current snowpack conditions agree with the above expected La Nina impacts.

The Colorado snowpack is above average as of the end of this month (135% SWE, 129% PPT), and all Colorado’s river basins have above average SWE and cumulative precipitation. The South Platte River Basin has both the lowest percent of average SWE and the lowest percent of average precipitation (110% SWE, 109% PPT). The Upper Rio Grande Basin has the highest percent of average SWE and the highest percent of average precipitation (165% SWE, 152 %PPT).

Across the West, the current snowpack SWE is the highest it has been at the end of February since 1997. Arizona has the highest percent of average SWE and the highest percent of cumulative precipitation (174%SWE, 143%). Wyoming is the only state with below average SWE, 98%, and the California Great Basin Sites have the lowest percent of average precipitation, 92%.

Until next month

Cheers

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	15.25	16.75		
07/2008 5.45	7.375	11.0

Average	5.56	7.96	10.40	13.01	13.13