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Colorado snowpack

No snow on the ground at the state’s 118 SNOTEL sites — normal for the date. The snow year begins in October; NRCS runoff forecasts resume in January. What is here now: last season’s final outlooks, and the record of how such forecasts have verified.

Snow is where Colorado’s water year is decided, and this site treats it as part of the record, not a separate widget: every SNOTEL site is searchable and drawn on the statewide map (Snow chip), every mountain district’s page carries a Snow & runoff tab with the year’s SWE trace and the NRCS outlook beside the gage record that verifies it, and the forecast report card grades five decades of those outlooks against what the rivers actually did.

The snowpack, on the ground

Every SNOTEL site, colored by how its snow-water equivalent compares to the 1991–2020 median for today’s date (all gray right now — the whole state is honestly snow-free; this map comes alive in October). Click a site for its numbers and its district’s snow page. New to snow numbers? Start here →

District by district

DistrictSNOTEL sites SWE, % of medianRunoff outlook, % of normal
Cache La Poudre River WD3 4 Black Mountain, Deadman Hill, Hourglass Lake, Long Draw Resv snow-free 51% (final)
Big Thompson River WD4 2 Bear Lake, Willow Park snow-free 61% (final)
St. Vrain Creek WD5 3 Copeland Lake, Sawtooth, Wild Basin snow-free 57% (final)
Boulder Creek WD6 3 Lake Eldora, Niwot, University Camp snow-free 62% (final)
Clear Creek WD7 1 Loveland Basin snow-free 52% (final)
South Platte Cheesman to Denver Gage WD8 0 snow-free 44% (final)
Bear Creek WD9 1 Echo Lake snow-free 66% (final)
Upper South Platte WD23 3 Buckskin Joe, Michigan Creek, Rough And Tumble snow-free 41% (final)
Laramie River WD48 2 Joe Wright, Roach snow-free —
North Fork of South Platte WD80 1 Jackwhacker Gulch snow-free 40% (final)
Fountain Creek WD10 1 Glen Cove snow-free 42% (final)
Arkansas: Headwaters to Salida WD11 2 Brumley, Saint Elmo snow-free 43% (final)
Arkansas: Salida to Portland WD12 1 Hayden Pass snow-free —
Wet Mountain Valley WD13 1 South Colony snow-free 25% (final)
Cucharas River WD16 1 Apishapa snow-free 26% (final)
Purgatoire River WD19 1 Whiskey Ck snow-free 20% (final)
Huerfano River WD79 0 snow-free 32% (final)
Rio Grande WD20 5 Beartown, Grayback, Middle Creek, Rat Creek, Upper Rio Grande snow-free 26% (final)
Alamosa La Jara WD21 2 Elwood Pass, Lily Pond snow-free 34% (final)
Conejos Creek WD22 1 Cumbres Trestle snow-free 39% (final)
Culebra Creek WD24 1 Culebra #2 snow-free 22% (final)
Saguache Creek WD26 2 Cochetopa Pass, Sargents Mesa snow-free 33% (final)
Carnero Creek WD27 1 Moon Pass snow-free —
Trinchera Creek WD35 3 Medano Pass, Trinchera, Ute Creek snow-free 25% (final)
Tomichi Creek WD28 1 Porphyry Creek snow-free 22% (final)
North Fork/Tribs. WD40 3 Mc Clure Pass, Overland Res., Park Reservoir snow-free 23% (final)
Lower Gunnison River WD42 0 snow-free 17% (final)
East River Basin WD59 3 Butte, Park Cone, Upper Taylor snow-free 28% (final)
San Miguel River Basin WD60 3 Alta Lakes, Columbine Pass, Lone Cone snow-free 21% (final)
Upper Gunnison River WD62 2 Slumgullion, Wager Gulch snow-free 24% (final)
Upper Uncompahgre River WD68 1 Idarado snow-free 22% (final)
Blue River Basin WD36 6 Copper Mountain, Elliot Ridge, Fremont Pass, Grizzly... snow-free 27% (final)
Eagle River Basin WD37 3 Beaver Ck Village, Mccoy Park, Vail Mountain snow-free 17% (final)
Roaring Fork River Basin WD38 8 Castle Peak, Chapman Tunnel, Independence Pass, Ivanhoe,... snow-free 20% (final)
Muddy/Troublesome Creeks WD50 2 Arapaho Ridge, Buffalo Park snow-free 16% (final)
Upper Colorado/Fraser Rivers WD51 9 Berthoud Summit, Fool Creek, High Lonesome, Jones Pass,... snow-free 33% (final)
Tribs. North of Colorado River WD53 2 Bison Lake, Lynx Pass snow-free 23% (final)
Lower Colorado River WD72 1 Mesa Lakes snow-free 19% (final)
White River Basin WD43 3 Burro Mountain, Ripple Creek, Trapper Lake snow-free 16% (final)
Lower Yampa River WD44 0 snow-free 21% (final)
North Platte River Basin WD47 4 Columbine, Never Summer, Rawah, Zirkel snow-free 29% (final)
Slater/Timberlake Creeks WD54 1 Elkhead Divide snow-free 17% (final)
Little Snake River WD55 0 snow-free 12% (final)
Upper Yampa River WD58 7 Bear River, Crosho, Dry Lake, Elk River, Lost Dog,... snow-free 20% (final)
San Juan River Basin WD29 2 Upper San Juan, Wolf Creek Summit snow-free 23% (final)
Animas River Basin WD30 6 Cascade #2, Mineral Creek, Molas Lake, Red Mountain... snow-free 29% (final)
Los Pinos River Basin WD31 1 Vallecito snow-free 24% (final)
La Plata River Basin WD33 1 Columbus Basin snow-free 27% (final)
Mancos River Basin WD34 1 Mancos snow-free 50% (final)
West Dolores Creek/Tribs. WD71 5 Black Mesa, El Diente Peak, Lizard Head Pass, Scotch... snow-free 24% (final)
Navajo River Basin WD77 0 snow-free 28% (final)
Piedra River Basin WD78 1 Weminuche Creek snow-free 24% (final)

SWE is the district median across its sites; the outlook is the median NRCS 50%-exceedance forecast as a percent of normal for the district’s forecast points. Sites bind to the district whose boundary contains them — the snow that feeds a district often sits in a neighboring headwater district, so read a basin’s own Snow & runoff tab for its full picture. Plains districts without a mountain site are absent, honestly. Data: NRCS SNOTEL and the NRCS National Water and Climate Center, refreshed nightly.

Context worth carrying

Last season’s final outlooks came in at a median 26% of normal across the mountain districts — the kind of year the report card shows forecasts typically call too generously. Colorado’s snowpack typically peaks in early April and is the source of roughly three-quarters of the state’s streamflow; what falls by then has largely decided the summer. The winter questions that matter — is the snow above or below the median line, and is it melting early — live on each district’s Snow & runoff tab, and the four-minute lesson covers how to read the forecast numbers without the jargon.