Tag: Snowpack
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Tapped: Worst winter in memory triggers cascading economic strain in Colorado mountain towns
Editor’s Note: The Denver metro region sits at the center of one of the American West’s most complex and consequential water challenges. This series examines the interconnected systems that determine how the region secures, stores, and conserves its water while navigating the competing demands of fast‑growing urban communities and the increasingly unpredictable mountain snowpack that…
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Tapped: Colorado River overallocation collides with record drought conditions
Editor’s Note: The Denver metro region sits at the center of one of the American West’s most complex and consequential water challenges. This series examines the interconnected systems that determine how the region secures, stores and conserves its water while navigating the competing demands of fast‑growing urban communities and the increasingly unpredictable mountain snowpack that…
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When will snowpack be gone in Colorado? Despite recent boost, models show early melt still expected
While big snow that hit Colorado this week (dropping more than 33 inches in one mountain town) managed to pull the statewide snowpack above record lows for the first time since February 26, an early snowmelt is still expected. Per reporting from the USDA, the statewide snow-water equivalent is now at 2.9 inches – above…
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Snowstorm offers little relief as Colorado snowpack ranks among worst on record
A late-season snowstorm may look like relief, but it can’t salvage a historically bad snowpack year. While it’s too early to measure Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s storm’s impact, water experts said a single snowstorm won’t reverse months of below-average snowpack. “This year is proving difficult to quantify,” Brad Udall, senior water and climate research scholar at…
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4 million Coloradans living in drought after big week-over-week uptick
The state of Colorado has jumped to a score of 323 on the drought severity and coverage index, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, significantly higher than a week prior when the score was 254. Headed into 2026, that number was at 127 – still high, but significantly lower compared to now. While the entirety…
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Everything you need to know about metro Denver’s water restrictions by city and county
Aurora and Arvada latest to impose water restrictions Colorado has seen a historically dry winter with temperatures at record highs this March, making for one of the state’s warmest and driest winters on record. With the weather this week hitting the mid to high eighties, Denver residents are beginning to see the effects of “El…
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Colorado ski resorts announce early closures amid historic snowpack lows, high temperatures
Vail Resorts is the latest area to announce season closure Wednesday As Colorado’s historically low snowpack year comes to a close and spring conditions take over the mountains, the state’s major ski resorts are announcing closing dates — some of which are weeks before historic closing dates. Most of Colorado’s ski resorts did not get…
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Colorado’s ‘best beach’ may not appear this year because of low snowpack
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in Camping, Colorado News, Environment, Hiking, Lifestyle, News, Outdoors, Things to Do, travel, WeatherMedano Creek — a seasonal waterway that cuts directly next to Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes — may not have enough snow runoff to reach its usual location. Visitors to Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park this spring and early summer may miss out on a surreal seasonal attraction. Due to a dry winter with below-average…
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Denver emerges from record-warm, record-dry winter
Denver is emerging from one of the warmest and driest winters on record as the region braces for record-low snowpack and potentially historic drought conditions. Every month from October through March set temperature records, and all but January ranked among the top 20 warmest or driest months in Denver since recordkeeping began in the late…
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Rapid snowmelt after some Colorado regions hit snowpack peak as early as February this year
It’s looking like a prediction I made on March 16 is unfortunately proving right – all signs continue to point to Colorado’s peak snowpack of the season being long gone, despite being weeks away of the typical April 8 snowpack peak. As of March 25, Colorado’s snowpack sits at 38 percent of what’s normal for…