Watching Colorado
Weather
Nolan J. Doesken
Colorado Climate Center
Colorado State University
Presented at Arkansas River Basin Water Forum
April 7, 2005, Trinidad, Colorado
Prepared by Odie Bliss
How do we monitor the climate of Colorado?
Rangeland pasture near Trinidad, Colo., photo by Gary Kramer, NRCS.
National Weather Service
Pueblo NWS Forecast Office
NWS Weather Station
Csu wx sta
Holly NWS Cooperative weather station
MMTS
Rocky Ford NWS Coop weather station
CRS
8-inch gauge
National Weather Service
Cooperative Program
Colorado Cooperative Weather Stations
February 2005 Precipitation Totals
Year
20
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
00
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
05
00
Annual Mean Temperature (F)
Trinidad Average Temperatures
Trinidad Average Annual Mean Temperature
57
55
53
51
49
47
45
Year
20
00
19
95
19
90
19
85
19
80
19
75
19
70
19
65
19
60
19
55
19
50
19
45
19
40
19
35
19
30
19
25
19
20
19
15
19
10
19
05
19
00
Annual Precipitation (inches)
Trinidad Annual Precipitation Totals
Trinidad Annual Precip
30
25
20
15
10
5
USDA, Natural Resources
Conservation Service, NRCS
NRCS Manual Snow Readings
NRCS Typical Snotel Site
Fremont Pass
19
40
19
42
19
44
19
46
19
48
19
50
19
52
19
54
19
56
19
58
19
60
19
62
19
64
19
66
19
68
19
70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
SWE (inches)
Porphyry Creek April 1 SWE
Porphyry Creek Snow Course
April 1 Snow Water Equivalent (SWE)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Year
2002 Water Year
Colorado Agricultural Meteorological
Network (CoAgMet)
Automated weather stations
with daily and hourly
readings of:
– Temperature
– Humidity
– Wind
– Precipitation
– Solar energy
– Evapotranspiration
CoAgMet Southeast Colorado
Hoehne CoAgMet Weather Station
Hoehne Daily Temperatures
Hoehne Relative Humidity
Hoehne Solar Radiation
Hoehne Wind Speed
Month
D
D
ec
-
04
04
04
ov
ec
-
N
4
4
4
4
4
-0
4
p0
p0
g0
l-0
l-0
O
ct
Se
Se
Au
Ju
Ju
n04
-0
4
-0
4
M
ay
Ju
-0
4
r-0
4
M
ay
Ap
M
ar
-0
4
b04
n04
n04
M
ar
Fe
Ja
Ja
Reference ET (Inches)
Hoehne ET Reference
Hoehne ET Reference
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
What’s our current situation?
Photos courtesy of NRCS
1999 Water Year Precipitation
2000 Water Year Precipitation
2001 Water Year Precipitation
2002 Water Year Precipitation
2003 Water Year Precipitation
2004 Water Year Precipitation
Arkansas Basin April 1 Snowpack
How are we doing this year?
Canon City
Canon City
2005 Water Year
30 Year Averages-1971-2000
Max Year - 1957
Min Year - 1962
Period of Record Average - 1906 - 2002
2005 Water Year Accumulated
2002 Water Year Accumulated
20
15
10
5
Months
SE
P
G
AU
JU
L
JU
N
AY
M
AP
R
AR
M
FE
B
N
JA
EC
D
V
O
N
C
T
0
O
Accumulated Precipitation (Inches)
25
Walsenburg
Walsenburg 2005 Water Year
2005 Water Year
30 Year Averages-1971-2000
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Months
SE
P
G
AU
JU
L
JU
N
AY
M
AP
R
AR
M
FE
B
N
JA
EC
D
V
O
N
C
T
0
O
Accumulated Precipitation (Inches)
20
WY 2005 precipitation map
Arkansas Basin Snowpack
2005
2003
2004
2002
http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/data/basins.html
Colorado April 1 Snowpack
http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/data/getsnomap.html
Year
2002
1999
1996
1993
1990
1987
1984
1981
1978
1975
1972
1969
1966
1963
1960
1957
1954
1951
1948
1945
1942
1939
7-year running mean
1936
1933
1930
1927
1924
1921
Arkansas River
1918
1915
1912
1909
1906
1903
1900
1897
1893
1890
Streamflow (Cubic Ft per Second)
Arkansas River at Canon City
Streamflow History
Arkansas River at Canon City Streamflow Values
through 2004
1400
Average
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Reservoir Levels
Colorado Statewide Reservoir Levels on October 1st
for Years 1997-2004
140
133
130
122
Percent of Average
120
100
100
93
80
74
72
Oct 1. 2003
Oct 1. 2004
60
48
40
20
0
Oct 1. 1997
Oct 1. 1998
Oct 1. 1999
Oct 1. 2000
Oct 1. 2001
Oct 1. 2002
US Drought Monitor Map
There’s one more piece to the puzzle
CoCoRaHS is a
unique, non-profit
community based
network of volunteers
of all ages and
backgrounds working
together to measure
and map precipitation
(rain, hail and snow).
five
five
5
five
Five
Important
Reasons
5
5
five
5
Photo by M. Suedekum
1) Precipitation is important and highly
variable
2) Data sources are few and rain
gauges are far apart
Photo by Henry Reges
3) Measurements from many sources
are not always accurate (especially snow)
4) There is almost no quantitative
data being collected about hail
5) Storm reports can save lives
CoCo RaHS is you and me
measuring rain and snow!
Southeast Colorado
August 19, 2004
Colorado Overview
January 30, 2005
We need volunteers!
Our goal is at least one per square mile
over urbanized areas.
As many as we can find in rural areas.
How to sign up?
http://www.cocorahs.org
– Click “Join Us”
For More Information,
Visit the CoCoRaHS Web Site
http://www.cocorahs.org
Support for this project provided by
Informal Science Education Program,
National Science Foundation
and
many local charter sponsors.
Colorado Climate Center
Data and Power Point Presentations available for
downloading
http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu
– click on “Drought”
– then click on “Presentations”