FLOOD10215

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 1995 Colorado Flood Report
• Date: 1/1/1995
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: CWCB
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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IV. CLIMATIC FACTORS AND HYDROLOGY

Weather Of 1994-1995

During the "winter" portion (November - March) of the winter of 1994-95, Pacific and
Arctic stonn tracks provided the Colorado mountains with generally mild weather. Typical
winter stonns from the Pacific area moved infrequently across the southern and central Colorado
mountains, causing a less than average snowpack to accumulate. Meanwhile, the central and
northern mountains and the eastern high plains received little snow accumulation from Arctic
stonns from Canada and Alaska

Then in April, particularly beginning in the middle of the month, it began snowing
frequently in the mountains and along the Front Range. A series of persistent stonns (snow
and/or rain) began to occur with regularity. These stonns depo~:ited healthy accumulations of
snow (and/or rain) every 4-5 days somewhere across the state_ The stonns lasted almost through
the second week of June. As the snowpack rose, the moisture content of the snow rose fastel,
since spring snowstonns are characteristically "wetter" than winter stonns.

The U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) monitors snowpack in
Colorado's mountain watershed through a network that includes automated sites and sites that
require manual recording. At the beginning of each winter month the manual sites are visited
and statewide and basinwide snowpack figures are computed. On April I, 1995 the statewide and
basinwide figures (the percent of the 20-year average) were low to slightly above nonnal, as
shown below.

Table 1

Location

Percent of Average
April I May 1 June I June 15

South Platte River Basin 77 122 374 657
Arkansas River Basin 112 183 338 628
Rio Grande Basin 126 167 257 367
Upper Colorado River Basin 106 132 304 413
Gunnison River Basin 125 161 481 991
Southwestern Colorado 125 159 334 405