National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rainfall from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic; Active Pattern Continues in Hawaii

Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected today from the ArkLaTex and Lower Mississippi Valley through the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic. Thunderstorms may produce heavy to excessive rain that could pose a flooding threat today from east Texas into New York. A powerful kona storm will continue to impact Hawaii through Saturday, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds, and severe thunderstorms. Read More >

So we are about a month out from when the snowpack reaches its normal peak depth and theoretically should contain the most liquid or snow water equivalent (SWE). The normal date for this peak in Colorado is April 9th and in Utah April 4th but the actual peak date varies in any given water year. 

This time series graph of snowpack for Colorado shows the current (dark blue) state of the SWE compared to normal (red) and 2017 (blue). As of March 5th the snowpack in the State of Colorado was 69% percent of normal and 52% of what it was on this date in 2017. 

 

 

 

Here is a similar graph for Utah, again not a lot of good news.

 

Below is a visual map of SWE made using ground, airborne and satellite data comparing the snowpack of the past two years on March 5th.