Snowpack at 90% of normal as ‘lean’ year projected for Southern Nevada
… Current snowpack levels in the Upper Colorado River Basin hit 90% of normal on Friday. The region includes parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, providing the runoff that collects in reservoirs along the river and eventually reaches Lake Powell and Lake Mead. And 90% is better than where snowpack stood on Monday, when it had declined to 86%. It’s been a volatile end to winter, with big swings rather than a steady increase to peak levels. Snowpack measurements — SWE, or snow water equivalent — generally peak the first week of April, when temperatures warm and more snow melts than new accumulation from snowfall.
Other snowpack and runoff news around the West:
- KTNV (Las Vegas, Nev.): April Water Supply: 2025 fell short of 2024’s winter snowpack
- Denver7 (Colo.): State of the snowpack: Explaining runoff predictions for the summer
- South Tahoe Now (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.): Third straight year with Lake Tahoe and Sierra snowpack near average, or better
- California Department of Water Resources: News release: Lake Oroville update: Flood control releases from Lake Oroville ongoing
- U.S. Forest Service: News release: April 1st snow survey results for Scott River sub-basin
- KOBI (Medford, Ore.): April snowpack survey results
