Niwot Ridge LTER Snow Report for Dec 2008
Greetings and Happy New Year!

This fall and winter at Niwot Ridge have been relatively dry. At C1 there was very little snow in October and November, and warm temperatures melted that after each storm. Early December brought more snow, while the second half of the month has been drier. ENSO-neutral conditions continued in November 2008, and The ENSO Diagnostic Discussion issued by the NOAA Climate Prediction Center/NCEP predicts ENSO-neutral or La Nina conditions are equally likely through early 2009.

Hand measurements made at Niwot Ridge C-1 on December 31st, 2008 show 3.625 inches of snow water equivalent (SWE) for 66% of the average hand measurements, and a snow depth of 15.6 inches. SNOTEL is reporting 3.5 inches of SWE for 67% of average. The Niwot Ridge road is snow covered above C1.

The South Platte River Basin is at 92% of average SWE, and 97% of average precipitation. State wide the Upper Rio Grande Basin has the highest percent of average SWE, and the highest percent of average precipitation (142%, 132%). The South Platte River Basin has the lowest percent of average SWE, and the Yampa and White River Basins have the lowest percent of average precipitation at 95%.

Across the West, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon have above average SWE. Arizona has the highest percent of average SWE as well as the highest percent of cumulative precipitation (254%, 142%). Washington has both the lowest percent of average SWE and the lowest percent of cumulative precipitation (76%, 90%). So far this winter, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado are the big winners for snow.

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	13.75	14.5
08/2009 3.625

Average	5.49	7.96	10.40	13.04	13.19