Snowpack, runoff, streamflow and weather are all linked very closely. Our closest stream gauge is on the Snake River down near River Run in Keystone. Below is a hydrograph for the last three weeks. You can see that, most days, streamflow has a peak and a valley. The peak comes from the afternoon's warmest temperatures when snow melts the most. The valley comes overnight when temperatures are the coolest and snow melts less. On the gauge, there is a time delay because it takes a while for that melting snow to travel from the high alpine terrain to the gauge.
You can also see that following our big snow storm, May 3-4, the stream starting rising quickly due to warming temperatures. It continued to rise until we had cooler, stormier weather starting May 18. The streamflow dropped for a few days. It will be interesting to see what happens the next few days.
We watch the streamflow, runoff and weather very closely to help understand what is going on with our snowpack.
Check out Colorado streamflows at:
