Snow Survey Story

l. to r. NRCS soil conservationist Don Graffis, Longmont Times Call photographer Hunter McRae, and NRCS soil conservationist Sylvia Hickenlooper

NRCS Longmont Field Office soil conservationist Don Graffis and NRCS Brighton Field Office soil conservationist Sylvia Hickenlooper recently took Longmont Times Call reporter Douglas Crowl and photographer Hunter McRae on a snow survey to Longs Peak (10,500 feet elevation) in Rocky Mountain National Park outside of Allenspark, Colorado. Outfitted in cold weather gear and snow shoes, the snow survey-newspaper group completed a ten-site point survey measuring snow pack to provide data for NRCS water supply forecasting in the western States. “We found 98

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percent of a 30-year average (snowpack) for this site,” said Don. “We haven’t been above the 30-year survey average of this site since 1997.” The survey team also went to a low site near the town of Ward where they measured only 62 percent of the average. “As of February,” said Don, “we’re feeling pretty good about our snow pack amounts here on the St. Vrain river basin.”
Your contact is Don Graffis, NRCS soil conservationist, at 303-776-4034 ext. 107, or donald.graffis@co.usda.gov.