Klaus Wolter, a meteorologist affiliated with the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration continues to promise a dry winter. In an article today in the Rocky Mountain News he says, “I think we should count our blessings. We got lucky” in regards to the amount of moisture the state has seen thus far.
According to Wolter, the La Nina weather pattern present in the Pacific will persist resulting in storms tracking north of our state. The good news though is that snowpack thus far is above normal statewide and even if their predictions bear out, we should be okay come summer. Here are the latest readings as of today:
S N O W - P R E C I P I T A T I O N U P D A T E Based on Mountain Data from NRCS SNOTEL Sites As of MONDAY: JANUARY 14 , 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STATE PERCENT OF AVERAGE RIVER BASIN Number Snow Water Accum of Sites Equivalent Precip -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
COLORADO GUNNISON RIVER BASIN ......................... 11 of 13 144 137 UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN ................... 27 of 29 119 124 SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN ..................... 15 of 15 105 101 LARAMIE AND NORTH PLATTE RIVER BASINS ........ 13 of 13 101 109 YAMPA AND WHITE RIVER BASINS ................. 17 of 19 102 111 ARKANSAS RIVER BASIN ......................... 5 of 9 141 124 UPPER RIO GRANDE BASIN ....................... 9 of 13 158 144 SAN MIGUEL, DOLORES, ANIMAS AND SAN JUAN RIVER BASINS ................. 14 of 16 153 135
We of course hope the forecasters are wrong just like they have been about the last two hurricane seasons!