Gunnison River Basin Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, Boulder and NOAA Paleoclimatology Program ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: PLEASE CITE CONTRIBUTORS WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!! NAME OF DATA SET: Gunnison River Basin Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction LAST UPDATE: 5/2003 (Original Receipt by WDC Paleo) CONTRIBUTOR: Connie Woodhouse, NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Branch IGBP PAGES/WDCA CONTRIBUTION SERIES NUMBER: 2003-035 SUGGESTED DATA CITATION: Woodhouse, C.A., 2003, Gunnison River Basin Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction, IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series # 2003-035. NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA. ORIGINAL REFERENCE: Woodhouse, C.A., 2003, A 431-Yr Reconstruction of Western Colorado Snowpack from Tree Rings, Journal of Climate, Vol. 16, No. 10, pp. 1551–1561, May 2003. GEOGRAPHIC REGION: Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, USA PERIOD OF RECORD: 1569-1999 AD DESCRIPTION: Tree-ring-based reconstruction of 1 April snow water equivalent (SWE) for the Gunnison River basin region in western Colorado. ABSTRACT: A tree-ring-based reconstruction for 1 April snow water equivalent (SWE) is generated for the Gunnison River basin region in western Colorado. The reconstruction explains 63% of the variance in the instrumental record and extends from 1569 to 1999. When the twentieth-century part of the record is compared to the full record, the variability and extremes in the twentieth century appear representative of the long-term record. However, years of extreme SWE (low and high) and persistent low SWE events are not evenly distributed throughout the record. The twentieth century is notable for several periods that lack extreme years, and along with the nineteenth century and the second half of the eighteenth century, contains many fewer persistent low SWE events than the first half of the reconstruction. Low SWE in the western United States is associated with several circulation patterns, including the Pacific–North American (PNA) pattern and those related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but the Gunnison River basin is on the edge of the area with a strong relationship to the PNA and is generally in a transitional zone with respect to regional ENSO influences. Tree-ring chronologies from Oregon and New Mexico, regions impacted by ENSO, were used as rough proxies of northwestern and southwestern U.S. winter precipitation to explore possible associations between Gunnison SWE and winter climate in these two regions over the past four centuries. DATA: Gunnison Region April 1 Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction Note: Tree Ring chronologies used in this study are archived with the International Tree Ring Data Bank, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/treering.html Year Recon SWE, cm Instrumental SWE, cm 1569 39.03 1570 40.31 1571 33.98 1572 38.77 1573 34.44 1574 24.32 1575 41.51 1576 34.09 1577 49.05 1578 46.31 1579 47.99 1580 22.35 1581 32.03 1582 50.31 1583 36.91 1584 22.25 1585 31.84 1586 46.51 1587 42.29 1588 53.68 1589 50.57 1590 23.45 1591 27.35 1592 33.01 1593 40.10 1594 52.84 1595 49.10 1596 42.61 1597 28.74 1598 17.29 1599 44.32 1600 30.33 1601 38.44 1602 40.31 1603 44.81 1604 48.42 1605 48.98 1606 46.34 1607 29.65 1608 44.45 1609 40.71 1610 45.00 1611 49.96 1612 39.25 1613 52.52 1614 52.13 1615 44.19 1616 38.56 1617 53.30 1618 42.15 1619 30.49 1620 43.01 1621 39.68 1622 36.34 1623 40.08 1624 36.51 1625 27.39 1626 36.14 1627 39.14 1628 50.21 1629 38.78 1630 39.02 1631 30.99 1632 33.39 1633 43.58 1634 28.18 1635 44.43 1636 40.10 1637 38.62 1638 40.90 1639 46.14 1640 45.62 1641 38.73 1642 41.38 1643 52.13 1644 32.01 1645 30.90 1646 31.85 1647 59.04 1648 44.77 1649 52.42 1650 51.19 1651 44.83 1652 44.86 1653 32.25 1654 16.48 1655 66.67 1656 37.51 1657 47.66 1658 39.83 1659 40.81 1660 37.68 1661 38.31 1662 39.06 1663 32.71 1664 22.26 1665 48.13 1666 35.58 1667 28.77 1668 32.90 1669 47.35 1670 30.22 1671 32.54 1672 48.42 1673 45.34 1674 38.22 1675 36.47 1676 44.43 1677 42.64 1678 47.85 1679 43.56 1680 58.41 1681 45.28 1682 33.16 1683 42.90 1684 39.01 1685 21.37 1686 33.85 1687 43.43 1688 45.10 1689 50.87 1690 44.54 1691 52.25 1692 33.61 1693 44.41 1694 44.04 1695 37.04 1696 50.04 1697 43.21 1698 43.43 1699 33.48 1700 35.34 1701 48.89 1702 49.31 1703 36.39 1704 31.55 1705 42.56 1706 37.38 1707 27.42 1708 30.47 1709 43.61 1710 38.99 1711 40.99 1712 40.70 1713 35.48 1714 26.19 1715 43.03 1716 36.36 1717 42.48 1718 42.62 1719 44.91 1720 46.70 1721 35.64 1722 33.07 1723 30.00 1724 43.63 1725 50.57 1726 51.24 1727 41.57 1728 35.47 1729 27.60 1730 39.79 1731 36.56 1732 45.34 1733 41.79 1734 45.24 1735 31.89 1736 31.63 1737 30.95 1738 50.52 1739 52.57 1740 29.97 1741 51.45 1742 45.18 1743 52.70 1744 38.22 1745 44.46 1746 38.46 1747 46.13 1748 23.80 1749 49.81 1750 29.71 1751 45.94 1752 46.73 1753 44.07 1754 39.57 1755 36.88 1756 33.39 1757 37.76 1758 45.40 1759 25.59 1760 50.57 1761 42.57 1762 51.69 1763 31.86 1764 50.35 1765 32.08 1766 41.95 1767 31.46 1768 46.96 1769 40.60 1770 33.32 1771 44.24 1772 44.29 1773 33.37 1774 42.70 1775 45.86 1776 31.09 1777 29.77 1778 37.83 1779 38.14 1780 28.94 1781 36.10 1782 40.45 1783 42.48 1784 56.02 1785 46.87 1786 34.73 1787 49.47 1788 40.48 1789 26.29 1790 51.59 1791 43.43 1792 44.00 1793 38.23 1794 36.48 1795 45.15 1796 45.39 1797 54.73 1798 25.55 1799 47.69 1800 42.07 1801 36.71 1802 46.38 1803 36.34 1804 31.73 1805 41.15 1806 40.45 1807 40.55 1808 43.10 1809 38.74 1810 38.66 1811 44.38 1812 41.84 1813 36.56 1814 30.26 1815 43.91 1816 43.18 1817 36.75 1818 38.49 1819 28.64 1820 36.92 1821 46.78 1822 31.06 1823 45.75 1824 28.01 1825 32.42 1826 46.12 1827 37.89 1828 43.90 1829 33.36 1830 36.93 1831 45.14 1832 47.24 1833 41.61 1834 29.44 1835 29.16 1836 40.95 1837 55.82 1838 42.28 1839 46.44 1840 48.98 1841 48.58 1842 34.22 1843 45.54 1844 38.66 1845 25.62 1846 29.69 1847 25.02 1848 43.06 1849 52.44 1850 49.11 1851 20.28 1852 49.70 1853 45.92 1854 35.73 1855 27.64 1856 48.06 1857 34.95 1858 45.90 1859 44.79 1860 37.15 1861 28.97 1862 53.65 1863 37.90 1864 38.14 1865 43.48 1866 55.31 1867 56.52 1868 50.77 1869 40.93 1870 41.10 1871 27.25 1872 49.61 1873 46.36 1874 38.92 1875 32.08 1876 37.26 1877 39.06 1878 40.25 1879 22.82 1880 49.52 1881 42.45 1882 30.57 1883 38.17 1884 47.86 1885 49.46 1886 38.42 1887 33.10 1888 40.43 1889 36.86 1890 43.52 1891 43.52 1892 43.23 1893 38.79 1894 40.71 1895 44.89 1896 21.42 1897 45.54 1898 38.52 1899 44.84 1900 42.99 1901 31.96 1902 22.33 1903 49.64 1904 34.53 1905 44.32 1906 48.51 1907 41.46 1908 30.24 1909 46.95 1910 36.08 1911 34.76 1912 40.19 1913 36.88 1914 44.50 1915 34.46 1916 37.75 1917 49.26 1918 40.34 1919 35.22 1920 48.60 1921 45.58 1922 34.24 1923 48.78 1924 51.96 1925 33.22 1926 40.67 1927 41.47 1928 47.21 1929 48.27 1930 42.45 1931 33.17 1932 44.66 1933 42.09 1934 30.51 1935 40.96 1936 39.72 1937 36.46 1938 43.69 43.18 1939 37.41 29.718 1940 37.93 32.766 1941 45.27 40.64 1942 45.10 42.418 1943 35.98 36.83 1944 35.77 39.878 1945 30.51 43.434 1946 33.42 25.908 1947 44.25 39.878 1948 39.30 45.466 1949 45.84 48.514 1950 33.98 39.624 1951 36.31 35.814 1952 47.27 70.104 1953 34.85 32.512 1954 30.47 29.972 1955 41.84 34.29 1956 38.44 39.37 1957 49.53 55.626 1958 44.91 45.466 1959 33.02 36.576 1960 42.86 37.846 1961 32.08 30.988 1962 59.38 52.578 1963 38.29 27.432 1964 28.56 32.004 1965 51.53 54.356 1966 31.93 25.908 1967 33.79 32.258 1968 35.90 39.116 1969 44.73 49.276 1970 40.17 42.164 1971 37.85 38.608 1972 39.87 28.448 1973 47.43 42.672 1974 36.87 38.354 1975 45.59 52.578 1976 31.28 38.862 1977 19.83 16.256 1978 50.81 54.61 1979 52.53 52.832 1980 46.43 57.15 1981 27.38 22.86 1982 44.51 50.292 1983 55.07 47.498 1984 51.12 56.642 1985 53.62 44.958 1986 46.63 41.656 1987 39.81 39.878 1988 35.82 33.274 1989 41.28 35.052 1990 24.74 23.114 1991 44.92 38.1 1992 34.32 37.338 1993 47.91 52.324 1994 34.34 31.75 1995 47.28 44.958 1996 39.90 49.022 1997 47.09 46.99 1998 43.64 37.338 1999 44.20 24.27111