Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Indy Pass snowpack reaches about 110% of normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin reached an average of 17.9 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on April 7, or 113% of median. That’s up from 17.7 inches on March 31 but down from 114% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 109.9% of median on April 7 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 17.8 inches, up from 16.3 inches and 103.8% of normal on March 31. Last year on April 7, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 17.4 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 14.7 inches on April 7 or 95% of median. That’s the same as last week’s SWE of 14.7 inches. Last year, on April 7, the station measured a snowpack holding 28.9 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 19.6 inches of SWE on April 7, or 136.1% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 17.8 inches of SWE on April 7, which is down from 18.2 inches on March 31.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 33 inches on April 7, which represents 107% of median. That’s up from 31.3 inches on March 31. 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 elevation has lost about five inches of water since last week
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On April 7, the reservoir was 32.97% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from March 31 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 33.1%.
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 April 7, 2023, the reservoir was 22.74% full.
On April 7, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,558.6 feet, or 141.4 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,559 feet on March 31. Last year, on April 7 the reservoir reached 3,520.7 feet in elevation, or 179.3 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.
Air temperatures on the rise
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport increased from 43°F on April 1 to 61°F on April 4 before going down to 59°F on April 5, or 7 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 22°F on April 1 to 32°F on April 5.