DENVER (AP) – It might be drier than usual at lower elevations in Colorado, but higher-than-normal snowfall in the mountains has boosted the snowpack in most parts of the state.
Colorado’s overall snowpack was 136 percent of average on Jan. 1, the highest reading for that date since 1997.
The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service says a series of storms last month benefited southern Colorado, where the snowpack had been below normal. It’s now at about 140 percent of average in several basins in southwest Colorado.
The snowpack is also above average in northern Colorado, which didn’t benefit as much from the December storms.
The snowpack percentage is measured against a 30-year average. Melting snow contributes about 80 percent of the water in Colorado waterways.
