Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Elevation: 10,944'
Latitude: 37°29'1.65"N
Longitude: 106°47'43.75"W
Slope: 3° Aspect: SSW
Adjoining Watersheds: Rio Grande, San Juan
Associated Snotels: Wolf Creek Summit, Upper San Juan
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Elevation: 10,944'
Latitude: 37°29'1.65"N
Longitude: 106°47'43.75"W
Slope: 3° Aspect: SSW
Adjoining Watersheds: Rio Grande, San Juan
Associated Snotels: Wolf Creek Summit, Upper San Juan
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site Reference & Archives
Andrew Temple digs deep at Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site, March 23, 2013. The site adjoins an abandoned bulk snow sampling collector. The Wolf Creek ski area is seen in the distance.
See CODOS Updates & Alerts for state-wide and general dust-related posts
Dust Enhanced Runoff Classification
Dust Enhanced Runoff Classification
CODOS has now observed eleven seasons of dust-enhanced snowmelt runoff behavior throughout the Colorado mountains (WY 2006-2018). Hydrographs at headwater stream gauges have been evaluated and classified within the framework of this dust enhanced snowmelt runoff space utilizing a 3 x 3 x 3 cell matrix corresponding to general characterizations of SWE, dust intensity, and spring weather, as shown in this figure.
A conceptual dust enhanced snowmelt runoff model integrating the interactions of March 1 SWE, dust intensity, and spring precipitation.
Water Years 2006-2018 have been analyzed and classified for the following stream gauges associated with the Wolf Creek Pass CODOS site:
Rio Grande near Del Norte (pdf)San Juan River at Pagosa Springs (pdf)
For a detailed discussion of this approach, see the state-wide Dust Enhanced Runoff Classification section.
March, April, May Precipitation
March, April, May Precipitation
SWE Plots
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
SWE Plots
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
For each Snotel site below, the first nine plots show a single Water Year's SWE relative to the site's historical record (1971 - current). The last two plots compare SWE and Dust on Snow events for two consecutive years. The shaded bands represent non-exceedence percentiles in the following order (from the bottom up):
Minimum - 10th percentile (dark gray)
10th - 30th percentiles (medium gray)
30th - 70th percentiles (light gray) with 50% trace in the middle
70th - 90th percentiles (medium gray)
90th - maximum (dark gray)
For a more detailed explanation, see http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/spi/explanation.html
Snowmelt Rates
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Snowmelt Rates
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Analyses of Wolf Creek Summit and Upper San Juan Snotel data for Water Years 2006-2016 snowmelt seasons showing date and quantity of peak SWE, days from peak SWE to “snow all gone” (SAG), total additional precipitation after the date of peak SWE, an “adjusted” mean daily rate of snowmelt adding the additional precipitation to the peak SWE total, the maximum five-day moving average of daily melt, and the mean air temperature over the entire snowmelt period, from peak SWE to SAG. POR refers to each snotel's entire period of record. As discussed in prior years, melt rates at the shady Wolf Creek Summit site located in thick forest are routinely slower than those at the much sunnier Upper San Juan site, located among widely scattered trees.
See our Snotel Dataset page for downloadable Excel files for each CODOS site, and an "All CODOS Sites Aggregated" Excel workbook containing spreadsheets for Water Years 2006-2016 and a summary of all years combined.
Hydrographs
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Hydrographs
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Snow Profiles
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Snow Profiles
Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Download: All 16 CODOS Snow Profiles at Wolf Creek Pass from WY 2009 - WY 2013 (pdf).
Photo Gallery
for Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Photo Gallery
for Wolf Creek Pass CODOS Site
Dust-on-snow fieldwork photos available for publication, with most recent photos displayed at the top. Please send requests for additional photos or for captions to jderry@snowstudies.org. All Photos © Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies.
Click each photo for a larger version and for captions. Mouse over the large images to display captions, including the date of the photo.
