The seasonal snowpack is on the way down with the warming temps. Statewide, it is clear to see that the northern part of the state had a bit more snow than the southern half. While the Arkansas drainage as a whole is below average, the SNOTEL site located just west of the ski area at Porphyry Creek is still hanging on near our median average for SWE. The site can be seen on the statewide map below. (It is the green circle located near the border between the Arkansas and Gunnison drainages.)

The second graph shows the median Arkansas River Basin Snowpack along with the last four seasons. You can see that our snowpack is dropping quickly. and it clearly shows how much more snow we had at this time last year (WY 2019). There were several upticks in the snowpack in May with the additional storms we received last spring. Overall, this year was pretty close to average for snowfall. This spring seems to be going a lot differently than last year. It’s been extremely warm up there and doesn’t look to slow down anytime soon. Graphs courtesy of the NRCS and USDA.