March snow a new low for Aspen
The Aspen Times
Aspen CO Colorado
ASPEN – March set the sort of snowfall record in Aspen that locals would probably just as soon forget.
A mere 6.09 inches of snow fell at the city’s water treatment plant during the month – a record low and well below the average for March snowfall, which is 26.98 inches at the plant.
“The last time we saw snowfall like this was back in 1966, when only 7.2 inches was recorded,” noted the March report, released Monday.
Total precipitation for the month, measured as water, was also well below average, but the 0.55 inches recorded in March was just shy of a record low, according to the water plant. The average for the month is 2.33 inches.
The plant is located at an elevation of 8,161 feet.
Of March’s total snowfall, virtually all of it – 6 inches – fell on March 1 and 2.
Last year, the plant recorded 37.1 inches of snowfall in March, an above-average sum, but well below the snowiest March on record. In 1965, 76.5 inches of snow fell, according to the plant’s historical data. The records go back to 1934.
The high temperature for March was 66 degrees. The low was 3 below.
At Snowmass, the Aspen Skiing Co. recorded 21 inches of snow for the month of March, compared to 74 inches during the same month a year ago, when the base depth at the top of the ski area topped the 100-inch mark. On Monday, Snowmass was reporting a 55-inch base up top.
Monday brought the first clouds and precipitation in recent memory to Aspen. Light snow fell during the morning and early afternoon, though it did not accumulate in town and skies cleared late in the day. Tuesday brings a chance of additional snow showers before an extended warm, dry spell returns Wednesday, according to the bloggers at http://www.aspenweather.net. The website was calling for a shot at breaking a string of April temperature records in Aspen next week.
Meanwhile, March will go down as the warmest on record for dozens of cities across the country, according to accuweather.com.
Denver fell just short of its warmest March ever, but the month will go down in the history books as the driest and least-snowiest March on record, according to accuweather.
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