PASS SNOW TOTALS COLORADO MANUAL
PASS SNOW TOTALS COLORADO SERIES

Data from these snow telemetry (SNOTEL) monitoring stations show that Buffalo Pass near Steamboat Springs gets the most snow, with an average peak SWE of 52 inches.

PASS SNOW TOTALS COLORADO MANUAL

Manual measurements of SWE and depth have been made during each winter month since the 1930s, and daily automated SWE estimates have been ongoing since the late 1970s.

PASS SNOW TOTALS COLORADO SERIES

Resource managers track the snow water equivalent (SWE)-the water contained within the snowpack-at a series of monitoring stations throughout Colorado’s seasonal snow zone. High winds often blow snow off mountain peaks, but alpine areas sheltered from wind and sun may keep their snow throughout the year. Seasonal snow cover is found at elevations as low as 7,500 feet in the northwestern part of the state and above 9,800 feet on some of the eastern slopes of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Seasonal snow covers about 26 percent of the area in Colorado, mainly along the high mountains that traverse the center of the state. North-facing slopes face away from the sun, so they are more likely to keep snow on the ground through the winter than south-facing slopes.Īt higher elevations Colorado has seasonal snow, which lasts throughout the winter. In these areas, snow does not always stay on the ground throughout the winter. Intermittent snow also covers most of the northwestern corner of the state. At intermediate elevations above 6,500 feet, mountain slopes tend to have intermittent snowcover. These low snow areas cover 49 percent of the state, mostly on the Front Range and eastern plains. The lowest elevations of the state (below 6,500 feet) have limited snowfall and snow accumulation because they stay warm enough that snow only falls a few times per winter and usually melts within a few days.

The extent of snow cover in Colorado is mapped with satellite data. Snow falls in the winter in all parts of Colorado, and the deepest snowpacks are in the high mountainscrossing the center of the state. Learn more about our local glacier history here.Colorado is known for its snow, which sustains the ski industry and supplies much of the water that flows into major rivers of the American West. Two specific glaciers running down what are now Fish Creek and Soda Creek carved out vast canyons that border Buffalo Pass. Glaciers were at their peak in our region about 125,000 years ago during the Pleistocene era. Glaciers played a big part in how the landscape of Steamboat Springs and Buffalo Pass now look. The Continental Divide here on Buffalo Pass is at one of it’s lowest elevations here in Colorado. The Buffalo Pass Road was originally built in 1894, south of a historic Ute trail that also went over the Pass. Named for the bison that remained on the Pass after they had been exterminated elsewhere, Buffalo Pass was a common route for the early settlers to the area before the road over Rabbit Ears Pass was built.

All of the terrain on Buffalo Pass is below “tree line” which in Colorado is around 11 – 12,000 feet. Werner which is at the top of the Steamboat Ski Area is 10,568 feet (3224 meters). Elevations on Buffalo Pass range from 8,272 feet in elevation to 10,804 feet on Soda Mountain and 10, 379 feet on Buffalo Mountain.

Pass snow totals colorado