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New Mexico snowpack measurement lowest in years

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The median amount of water contained within New Mexico's snowpack statewide for the start of April is the lowest on record since at least 2000. Officials with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque say the measurement — known as the snow-water equivalent — at the Hopewell site in Rio Arriba County had the lowest value since records began in 1980. They also say the snowpack in southern Colorado is at about 50 percent now and just trace amounts remain in New Mexico's basins. The grim statistics come as more than one-third of the state contends with extreme drought. The weather service also reports that Albuquerque, Clayton and Roswell were all significantly warmer and drier than normal last month as was most of New Mexico.