Record Snowpack Good, Bad For Colorado
DENVER (CBS4)- All the snow that piled up in Colorado's mountains is adding up to record snowpack. The statewide snowpack is 146 percent of normal.
The snowpack is highest in the northwest part of Colorado, where basins are at 170 and 169 percent. The runoff is expected to be anywhere from 150 to 200 percent of average.
The central mountains are also doing well with above average snowfall. The runoff predictions there are 20 to 40 percent above average.
"So April was a pretty remarkable month, we saw continued snowfall throughout the entire month when normally we'd see a peak at mid month and then the snowpack starts to melt. But this year during April, we continue to see snowpack percentages climb and water content climb throughout the whole month," said Natural Resources Conservation Service spokesman Mike Gillespie.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the southern part of Colorado, where the snowpack is only 50 percent of average. The eastern plains of Colorado have been classified as being in a drought this year.
