Colorado's snowpack lags below median as warm temperatures continue

Following an abnormally warm and dry year, Colorado’s snow season is off to an abnormally warm and dry start — and not much is expected to change in the near future.

Colorado’s statewide snowpack on Wednesday sat at 73% of the median recorded between 1991 and 2020, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center . Storms in the first week of December boosted the amount of snow in the mountains from near-record lows, helping struggling ski resorts , but forecasts with little chance of flurries in the near future could counteract those gains.

“It’s early, but man, we could use some snow soon,” said Zach Hiris, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.

Colorado’s snowpack provides not only critical winter habitat