Spring Snow Depth On Niwot Ridge
Rising temperatures are likely to affect snowpack volume (Mote et al., 2018, 2005), advance and prolong snowmelt seasons (Musselman et al., 2017), and lead to wetter, heavier snow that is less easily redistributed (Badger et al., 2021). To capture the effect of rising temperatures on Niwot Ridge, researchers have measured snow depth on Niwot Ridge each May since 1992. To learn more, explore our long-term snow depth data, visualized below.
Annual Anomalies in Spring Snow Depth
The below figure visualizes annual deviation in spring snow depth from the long-term mean in an alpine meadow on Niwot Ridge. Positive values indicate deeper snow than average while negative values indicate a shallower snowpack than average.
Download Snow Depth Data and Code
The long-term data and code used to make the figures on this page are publicly available on GitHub and the Environmental Data Initiative Portal.
*Figures, content, and data on this page may be used with proper citation.
about Spring Snow depth Data from Niwot Ridge
Field Site:
Figure 1: Climate stations of the Niwot Ridge LTER. Blue stars indicate the location of the subalpine (C1), Saddle, and alpine (D1) climate stations.
Data Collection:
How To Cite Data and Figures On this page
The Niwot Ridge LTER welcomes use of the figures and content on this page when accompanied by the following citation:
Niwot Ridge LTER. 2026. Data Dashboard. Retrieved from https://nwt.lternet.edu/spring-snow-depth.
We also welcome use of the data linked to on this page when accompanied by the following citations:
Saddle Snow Depth:
Walker, D., J. Morse, and Niwot Ridge LTER. 2025. Snow depth data for Saddle grid, 1992 - ongoing. ver 22. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/373278a850606e58d0cee389fbbad88b
These data packages are hosted on the Environmental Data Initiative Data Portal. Data packages include additional detailed information about where and how spring snow depth data are recorded and processed.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the data presented on this page, please email the Niwot Ridge LTER. To learn more about research, education, and outreach conducted by the Niwot Ridge LTER, please visit our website.