CODOS UPDATE December 9, 2025: Soil moisture, SLV Field Workshop, COlorado Gives
Greetings from Silverton,
Over the last couple weeks we have seen four winter storms make their way through Western San Juan Mountains. We currently have over 2’ of snowcover as 5” of SWE. The Southern Mountains have fared better this early winter than the rest of Colorado. The storm that hit over the weekend favored the Central and Northern Mountains helped a great deal, but there is still some catching up required in all the Colorado basins. The problem is the forecast isn’t looking too exciting for at least the next 7 days.
Going into winter some of the wettest soil moisture conditions are in the Southern Mountains due to the historic rain and flooding that occurred mid-October. Soil moisture plots from our stations (below) show conditions coming off snowmelt last year, the dry summer, and the pulse of water into the soils from the October rain events (below).
Below: Soil moisture conditions going into winter over the last few years. Conditions are a bit dryer in Central and Northern Colorado compared to last year. For the majority of the Southwest it is wetter than it has been in a number of years due to the intense rainfall in October. Wetter soil conditions going into winter can increase snowmelt runoff efficiency come spring.
Above: Soil moisture and temperature at Swamp Angel (11,060’) and Senator Beck (12,200’). Because of the big rain event in October (5” at Swampy), soils are now roughly at the percent saturation as they were in mid-June, on the heals of snow ablation.
Below: Comparison of snow depth and SWE at Swamp Angel (11,060’), Red Mountain SNOTEL (1 mile from Swamp Angel at similar elevation), and Senator Beck (12,200’) station which is also the location of the USGS-NGWOS station. Swamp Angel and Red SNOTEL agree very well. Looking at the plot comparing Senator Beck and USGS-NGWOS snow depth, there is a large difference between the two. This speaks to how variable snow distribution can be in wind dominated high alpine environments.
Below: Statewide snowpack conditions before the weekend storm (December 5/6) on the left. Conditions after the storm on the right. It being early season, one or two storms can make a big difference on percentages, thus how “normal” the snowpack is considered to be. The Yampa jumped 35%, from 40% to 75%.
Field Workshop 2026: Designing for Adaptation in a Time of Prolonged Drought
The Field Workshop is a three-week immersive fellowship that follows the Rio Grande from its headwaters in Colorado’s San Luis Valley into northern New Mexico’s Taos Plateau. The program brings together a diverse cohort of emerging scientists, designers, policy thinkers, and artists to explore urgent questions of land, water, and culture in a time of prolonged drought.
Participants learn directly in the field alongside regional partners - including farmers, conservation districts, and Indigenous and pueblo communities - while co-developing applied projects that support ecological and community resilience.
The program is open to graduate students and early-career professionals from across disciplines including ecology, hydrology, agriculture, design, planning, architecture, the arts, humanities, social sciences, policy, and law.
Dates: July 6–27, 2026
Location: San Luis Valley, CO & Taos Plateau, NM
Deadline: January 15, 2026
More info and application:
wright-ingraham.org/field-workshops/fw2026/
For questions, contact Frida Foberg: frida@wright-ingraham.org
Colorado Gives Day
The Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies is participating in Colorado Gives Day 2025 on Tuesday, Dec. 9. See our Colorado Gives homepage here.
Donors who set up a new recurring donation on ColoradoGivesDay.org for Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies will get their first month’s donation matched up to $100 from Colorado Gives Foundation. Support us with a donation now through Tuesday, December 9 at our Colorado Gives homepage, or at our website snowstudies.org homepage using the blue "Donate" button. For more information about Colorado Gives Day, visit ColoradoGivesDay.org.