CODOS UPDATE April 18, 2025: Obs From Senator Beck, albedo reset coming
Greetings from Silverton,
CSAS hoofed it up to Senator Beck Study Plot (12,186’) on Thursday, a breezy day on the forefront of a storm. All green on the CAIC homepage for the San Juans; the snowpack felt bulletproof. Variable (bad) skiing conditions, maybe 10% nice turns on the way down at around 12:30 PM.
When in the pit, there were no glaring dust layers present. When looking at the pit photos, we could hazard a guess at dust present in certain parts of the snowpack but they are faint. What isn't faint is the surface dust, spread across the above-treeline slopes and basins in varying concentrations. Likely some wind-mobilized, but also likely dust that has been buried in the snowpack that has consolidated at the surface due to melt. Below treeline, the dirty snow surface is pervasive. These recent observations explain the behavior of the past weeks, rather than act as a forecast due to the impending 30 inch storm. Just joking. Hoping for 10 inches for Silverton.
Our stream gage read just over 3 cfs before the weather shifted, and cooler, overcast conditions dampened the rise. We support staving off the melt-out. As far as we know, no one had as big of storm predicted for mid-April as we are all hunkering down for across the state. We are always up for a bit more winter.
Below you'll see photos from the Sultan and Senator Beck Basin, pit forms, and other obs. And, even if this storm isn’t everything we hope for, the mountains will at least get a nice, albeit brief, albedo reset and an additional bit of precipitation.
Take Care,
Below: Snowfall over the weekend.
Below: After the nice bump in precipitation the first week of April the heat was turned on, as expected. All major basins have shown a dramatic drop-off in SWE. Where snow is forecasted today and tomorrow we expect a brief albedo reset at higher elevations. Meaning the snow surface will regain a higher reflective surface, sending the warming rays of the sun back into space. With the wet springtime snow consolidating quickly look for albedo to degrade quickly, exposing surface dust that will increase snowmelt once again.
Below: Snow cover for three basin in central, southern Colorado. There is very little snow at mid and lower elevations, and higher elevations are spotty. See your watershed at SNODAS website.
Above: A brief trip up to Swamp Angel Study plot showed a few inches of dirty snow at the surface and another dust layer about 6 inches below the surface.
Above: The pit at Senator Beck Study Plot (12,186’) had a depth of 62” (1.59 meters) and 22.6” (575 mm) of SWE. Photos above treeline reveal varying levels of surface dust.
Above: More dust. Photo from a northeast facing basin off the Sultan Mountain, just outside of Silverton, CO.