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North Fork of South Platte

Division 1 · Water District 80 · As of 2026-08-30 00:43 MDT
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North Fork of South Platte on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 80 · clicktap anything for its record

Snowpack — no snow on the ground at 1 SNOTEL site — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October and typically peaks around April 25. Runoff outlook — Cheesman Lake Inflow: even odds of at least 31 kAF over 06-01 to 09-30 — 40% of a normal season, per NRCS, issued 2026-06-01 — the season’s final; new forecasts begin in January. Full snow & runoff picture — charts, forecast history and how the forecasts have verified →

Sites, exceedance bands and sources
SNOTEL siteElev (ft)SWE (in)Median (in)% of medianTypical peak
Jackwhacker Gulch11030 0.30.0 April 25 (14.4 in)

Cheesman Lake Inflow — 06-01 to 09-30 volume, thousand acre-feet (chance the volume is AT LEAST this):

90%70%50%30%10%Normal
1626313745 78

Snow-water equivalent and medians (1991–2020) from NRCS SNOTEL; seasonal volume forecasts from the NRCS National Water and Climate Center. Sites and forecast points are assigned to the district whose boundary contains them — snowpack that feeds this district can also sit in a neighboring headwater district. Toggle the Snow chip on the map above to see the sites.

Topology cross-check: 12 parent disagreements, 20 sizable streams not on this network (vs DWR's route framework — under review)

This flow network was built mechanically; DWR's Source Water Route Framework disagrees with it in the places below. Each row is a question a human reviewer has not yet answered — not an error verdict. Checked 36 streams, 24 agree. Know this water? Tell us →

StreamThis site routes it toDWR routes it to
Jarre Creek the mainstem Plum Creek
Bear Creek the mainstem West Plum Creek
West Plum Creek the mainstem Plum Creek
East Plum Creek the mainstem Plum Creek
West Cherry Creek the mainstem Cherry Creek
East Cherry Creek the mainstem Cherry Creek
Elk Creek the mainstem West Cherry Creek
Fourmile Creek the mainstem South Fork South Platte River

Sizable streams DWR maps here that this network does not carry:

Cache la Poudre River (127 mi) · Box Elder Creek (82 mi) · Big Thompson River (79 mi) · Clear Creek (66 mi) · Big Dry Creek (43 mi) · Saint Vrain Creek (32 mi) · Beebe Draw (30 mi) · Second Creek (25 mi)

334 gages · 23 active calls · Week of Aug 17–Aug 23, 2026 — 235 alerts, 476 warnings

⚠ This district is administered as part of the deployed South Platte product, whose modeled mainstem currently runs Denver gage → Greeley (the WD2 reach). The schematic and mass balance shown here are that combined product — this district's own upstream reach is not yet independently modeled. Calls, stations, and rights data ARE district-specific.

Snow and runoff

Snow-water equivalent, WY2026

No snow on the ground — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October. The chart shows the full water year just ending.

SNOTEL siteElev (ft)SWE (in)Median (in)% of medianTypical peak
Jackwhacker Gulch11030 0.30.0 April 25 (14.4 in)

NRCS SNOTEL, daily. Sites are assigned to the district whose boundary contains them — the snow that feeds this district can also sit in a neighboring headwater district.

Two ways a snow year goes wrong (1999–2026)

A bad snow year here comes in two flavors (both called snow droughtA winter that shorts the snowpack. It happens two ways: a dry one, where the snow never comes, and a warm one, where near-normal snow falls but melts off weeks early -- and the river feels them differently.), and the river feels them differently. In 7 of the last 28 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 0 more, the snow came but left early — a near-normal peak melted out two weeks or more ahead of its usual date, sending the water down before the season needed it. This year was one of the dry ones: the pack peaked at 50% of median.

The snow never came: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2022, 2026.

Computed by this site from 1 SNOTEL site’ full daily records (NRCS AWDB, back to 1999). Each year is measured against each site’s own multi-decade median — not the 1991–2020 normal the chart above uses — so the 1980s grade against a fair baseline. Peak and melt-out need 85% of the season’s days on the record; thin years are dropped, not guessed. Derived from snow measurements alone — it cannot tell dry-from-warm causes apart, only what the snowpack did.

Runoff outlook — Cheesman Lake Inflow

NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 31 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 09-30 — 40% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 16, probably not more than 45. New forecasts begin in January. How to read these numbers →

90% chance of at least70% chance of at least50% chance of at least30% chance of at least10% chance of at leastNormal
1626313745 78