Spring-Summer Streamflow Forecast Map

The streamflow forecast map shown from January through May is generated by NRCS, based on their forecasts for one or more forecast points within each basin. The map colors indicate the forecasted spring-summer runoff as a percent of the 1981-2010 normal spring-summer runoff. 

(Important Note: Starting in water year 2013, NRCS and NOAA will continue to collaborate on streamflow forecasts, but the forecast values will no longer be strictly coordinated between some of the NOAA NWS River Forecast Centers, including the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center; thus, the NRCS forecast may differ from the NOAA forecast for the same forecast point in the Colorado Basin.) 

Forecasts of natural runoff are based principally on observations of precipitation, snow-water equivalent (SWE), and antecedent precipitation in the fall before winter snowfall begins. The forecasts become more accurate as the season progresses and the influences on spring-summer runoff are increasingly captured in the observations. The forecasts earlier in the season assume that climatic factors during the remainder of the snow accumulation and melt season will have an average affect on runoff. 

For more information about NRCS streamflow forecasts, go here.

Additional streamflow forecast information:
NOAA streamflow forecasts are available through the following websites of individual River Forecast Centers (RFCs):
- Colorado Basin RFC (also includes Great Basin)
- Missouri Basin RFC (includes South Platte and North Platte)
- West Gulf RFC (includes Rio Grande)
- Arkansas Basin RFC

NOAA/NWS River Basin Forecast Centers in the western U.S. have an interactive website that shows streamflow forecasts as inputs to reservoirs.

For NRCS State Basin Outlook Reports, visit here and select the state from the dropdown menu.

For a monthly summary of snowpack conditions and streamflow forecasts for the western U.S. from the NRCS National Water and Climate Center, visit here.