Federal agriculture officials are reporting record snowpack levels across northern Colorado.
According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the snow on Buffalo Pass northeast of Steamboat Springs was more than 200 inches deep – or just over 16 ½ feet - at the start of May. That’s an all-time record for total snowpack at any individual site in Colorado.
The water content of the snowpack was 72.6 inches, also a record. For the Yampa/White River basins, the overall snowpack was 65% above average.
But it’s a different story in southern Colorado, where the snowpack is only 72% of average in the Rio Grande basin. Statewide snowpack is 135% of average, prompting concerns about flooding when the snow melts.