Tag: snowpack
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After ‘winter of defeat,’ Colorado hopes for wetter summer
With snowpack melt already peaking in some parts of the state and drought conditions worsening compared to last year, Colorado’s water watchers are hoping for a wetter summer, though they anticipate the situation deteriorating before getting better. Meanwhile, the governor has convened a drought task force, which was last constituted six years ago. There was…
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Colorado snowpack falls to record low with slim chance of recovery
Since the snowpack in Colorado has fallen to the lowest level in modern record-keeping, the chances of catching back up are slim. Across the state, snowpack, a measure of the water in the snow, is 55% of average, the lowest going back to the 1980s, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service. At this point,…
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Colorado Springs bucks typical weather patterns with warm start to year
Colorado Springs ended 2025 on a hot streak and that doesn’t look to cease anytime soon. After tying the warmest mean temperature on record for December, the city recorded a record high for the first day of the year at 65 degrees Fahrenheit. For December, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported that Colorado Springs averaged…
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Record-setting November snowstorm brings some drought relief to Colorado
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save After an abnormally warm summer and fall, November’s snow has helped relieve Colorado drought conditions, particularly in the southeastern corner of the state. The major storm that started on Election Day and set a 30-year record for November snowfall on Pikes Peak also dropped several…
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Record-setting November snowstorm brings some drought relief to Colorado
After an abnormally warm summer and fall, November’s snow has helped relieve Colorado drought conditions, particularly in the southeastern corner of the state. The major storm that started on Election Day and set a 30-year record for November snowfall on Pikes Peak also dropped several feet of snow in the lower Arkansas Valley and across…
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NEWS | Why a good snow year can’t save the Colorado River
The Colorado River is one of the West’s most vital resources. But 20 years of drought have stressed the entire river basin, forcing federal officials to call for massive cuts in water use. This winter, in the water-towers of the west, storms have dropped more than double the average snowpack in some Colorado mountains. But…
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Tipping Point: Colorado River strain casts shadow over recreation
Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado’s largest body of water, is at its lowest level ever. Plagued by drought and meager snowpack, the reservoir is not even 50% full. In an attempt to shore up Lake Powell and keep power-generating turbines turning, regulators pulled about 36,000 acre-feet from Blue Mesa last year, causing the closure of the…
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Drought conditions still easing slowly across Colorado
Drought plaguing the Southwest continues, but Colorado saw another week of small improvements, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The biggest improvements have come in the eastern half of the state, while the Western Slope has yet to see the same reprieve. “Widespread beneficial rainfall, exceeding 1 inch, this…
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Should Colorado enter into a multi-state program to manage its water use?
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Demand management: It’s a term that makes water users along the Colorado River nervous — and Colorado state lawmakers, too. In May, the upper Colorado River Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico) and the lower-basin states (Arizona, Nevada and California) signed a drought contingency plan…
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Should Colorado enter into a multi-state program to manage its water use?
Demand management: It’s a term that makes water users along the Colorado River nervous — and Colorado state lawmakers, too. In May, the upper Colorado River Basin states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico) and the lower-basin states (Arizona, Nevada and California) signed a drought contingency plan (DCP) intended to prevent wide-scale water shortages in the future. That…