While the valley has seen consistent early season snowfall, area rivers are still flowing below average.
Snowpack for the Roaring Fork watershed is higher than normal, and more than twice that of last year.
This measurement is in snow water equivalent, or, how much water the snowpack is actually holding, which is different from how deep snowpack is.
Early season snow doesn’t necessarily translate to higher river levels. Much of the water will remain frozen until early summer. The Roaring Fork watershed is working its way out of a deficit. This time last year, the watershed was at 60 percent of the median snowpack.
According to Liza Mitchell with the Roaring Fork Conservancy, early season moisture is a good start to the water year, which runs from October to September.