Rio Grande Basin SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Report

Rio Grande Basin SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Report

Based on Mountain Data from NRCS SNOTEL Sites

**Provisional data, subject to revision**

Data based on the first reading of the day (typically 00:00) for Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Basin Site Name	Elev (ft)	Snow Water Equivalent			Water Year-to-Date Precipitation
Basin Site Name	Elev (ft)	Current (in)	Median (in)	Pct of Median	Current (in)	Median (in)	Pct of Median
UPPER RIO GRANDE BASIN
Grayback	11620	0.3	N/A	*	11.4	14.4₍₁₆₎	79
Beartown	11580	9.5	18.8	51	21.8	20.8	105
Slumgullion	11560	5.8	12.0	48	10.4	11.6	90
Sargents Mesa	11490	6.0	10.0₍₁₂₎	60	9.1	11.0₍₁₂₎	83
Middle Creek	11260	9.5	15.8	60	19.3	20.0	96
Moon Pass	11110	-M	5.6₍₁₂₎	*	6.6	7.4₍₁₂₎	89
Wager Gulch	11110	3.7	N/A	*	10.8	N/A	*
Lily Pond	11070	-M	11.6	*	13.8	15.8	87
Wolf Creek Summit	10930	14.0	25.2	56	24.1	28.0	86
Upper San Juan	10140	12.9	26.2	49	26.7	30.0	89
Cumbres Trestle	10030	13.0	23.0	57	16.8	21.4	79
Cochetopa Pass	10020	3.6	4.2₍₁₆₎	86	5.5	6.1₍₁₆₎	90
Upper Rio Grande	9370	0.5	5.6	9	11.7	8.5	138
Basin Index (%)		53			91
RIO CHAMA RIVER BASIN
Cumbres Trestle	10030	13.0	23.0	57	16.8	21.4	79
Hopewell	10080	7.2	15.4	47	11.0	16.2	68
Bateman	9230	1.8	10.0	18	8.1	11.6	70
San Antonio Sink	9120	2.8	N/A	*	5.9	N/A	*
Chamita	8360	0.1	7.6	1	8.5	11.0	77
Basin Index (%)		39			74
SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAIN RANGE BASINS
Santa Fe	11480	5.2	12.2₍₂₄₎	43	9.7	15.4₍₂₄₎	63
Wesner Springs	11110	0.2	13.6	1	6.9	15.0	46
Taos Powderhorn	11020	6.6	15.0₍₁₀₎	44	13.2	19.2₍₁₀₎	69
Trinchera	10860	4.1	9.8	42	5.6	9.8	57
South Colony	10790	7.7	15.4₍₂₉₎	50	15.4	18.1₍₂₉₎	85
Hayden Pass	10700	5.8	13.2₍₁₃₎	44	10.1	11.2₍₁₃₎	90
Rio Santa Barbara	10640	6.1	N/A	*	7.6	N/A	*
Ute Creek	10720	1.8	11.5₍₂₀₎	16	8.6	13.1₍₂₀₎	66
North Costilla	10570	0.1	5.4	2	5.5	11.0	50
Culebra #2	10560	5.9	11.8	50	5.9	11.0	54
Shuree	10070	0.0	4.6₍₁₀₎	0	4.1	8.6₍₁₀₎	48
Red River Pass #2	9840	0.1	7.6	1	4.6	9.3	49
Gallegos Peak	9460	1.8	9.5	19	7.8	12.6	62
Medano Pass	9650	0.3	5.1₍₂₅₎	6	8.6	9.0₍₂₅₎	96
Palo	9330	0.1	1.8₍₁₀₎	6	3.9	8.8₍₁₀₎	44
Tres Ritos	8740	0.0	0.0₍₁₄₎	*	5.3	10.1₍₁₄₎	52
Elk Cabin	8220	0.0	1.0₍₂₄₎	0	5.9	8.7₍₂₄₎	68
Basin Index (%)		29			63
JEMEZ RIVER BASIN
Garita Peak	10100	0.0	N/A	*	7.2	N/A	*
Quemazon	9500	0.0	6.2	0	5.8	10.4	56
Vacas Locas	9350	0.2	8.1₍₁₉₎	2	9.4	13.5₍₁₉₎	70
Senorita Divide #2	8560	0.0	6.7	0	8.9	13.2	67
Basin Index (%)		1			65

-M = Missing data.
* = Analysis may not provide a valid measure of conditions.
N/A = Not available.

Footnotes for median and average:
(##) = If less than 30 years are available, this value specifies the number of years used for the median and average calculations.
Sites with less than 10 years available do not have medians or averages.

If the Basin Index (%) percent value is flagged as potentially invalid,
care should be taken to evaluate if the value is representative
of conditions in the basin.

The SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT represents the depth of water in the snowpack, if the
snowpack were melted, expressed in inches.

The WATER YEAR-TO-DATE-PRECIPITATION represents total precipitation since October 1st, expressed in inches.

Contact your state water supply staff for assistance.

Medians and averages are calculated for the period 1991-2020.

Provisional data, subject to revision.

* Site -- Either: (a) the current value is missing; (b) the median or average for the day is not available or is zero; or (c) for snow water equivalent, the median or average for the day is less than 10% of the maximum median or average value for the year.

* Basin - More than half of the stations for a basin with normals report missing or invalid data.

The basin index is calculated as the sum of the valid current values divided by the sum of the corresponding medians or averages and the resulting fraction multiplied by 100.