Wednesday marked the day when Summit County’s snowpack usually reaches its historic peak, and the water content trapped in the snow is straddling normal levels thanks to an infusion of snow from a mid-April storm. 

Snowpack in the Blue River Basin, which includes all of Summit County, historically peaks on April 17. As of that date, snowpack levels were 100% of the 30-year median, according to data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. 

Despite a small dip, the county’s snowpack was largely insulated from the nosedive experienced in other basins and at the statewide level last week, but those areas have also rebounded. Attention now turns to the runoff season. 

As of April 17, Summit County’s snowpack had a snow water equivalent of 16.7 inches, which is how much liquid water is frozen in the area’s snowfields. That level is slightly above the Blue River Basin’s historic peak for snow water equivalent, which is 16.4 inches. 

“The snow water is very important to us in Colorado and other places downstream of us,” said National Weather Service hydrologist Aldis Strautins. “And so that water equivalent really important to look at and see how much we have sitting up there ready to come into our reservoirs” 

While snowpack in Summit County — and the state as a whole — dragged below normal for much of November and December, it began to climb out of a deficit in January before surging in March when it trended above normal for the entire month. 

While water experts hope to see the bulk of the snow water equivalent build up before or by the 30-year-median peak, late spring storms can help keep levels strong even as the melt begins. 

The forecast for the remainder of April and early May looks mixed. 

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According to an April 17 blog post by OpenSnow meteorologist Sam Collentine, unsettled weather will flow into Colorado from Thursday through Saturday, bringing “high-elevation snow showers at times on Thursday and into Friday.”

Snowfall may intensify Friday night and into Saturday, with the threshold for rain and snow hovering around around 9,000 to 10,000 feet with 2 to 4 inches of snowfall possible along the Continental Divide, Collentine stated. Sunday should be dry with higher temperatures that will continue through next week, with another chance for snow that weekend. 

I know many of you are ready for full-on spring, but these moisture-rich storms are great for adding to our water supply and tampering down the wildfire risk as we quickly transition into summer,” he stated. 

Looking further ahead, projections from the Climate Prediction Center show that much of Colorado has equal chances of receiving above or below normal precipitation between April 27 and May 10. Only southern parts of the state are forecast to have higher chances of seeing above-average precipitation during that time. 

Heading into the summer, experts say the state’s water supply is in good condition, with a healthy stockpile in reservoirs thanks to above-average snowpack and heavy runoff last year. 

Strautins said he expects northern river basins such as the Yampa to yield the most runoff, while southern areas may be below-normal. In Summit County, Strautins said the Dillon Reservoir will likely hover right around normal this runoff season. 

And there’s still time for that to change. 

“We still have storms that come through Colorado even after we start to have the runoff happen, and that does help us keep and even increase our snowpack,” Strautins said.