Spring storms are sweeping through Colorado this week bringing relief from hot and dry conditions and temporarily suppressing wildfire risk.
As April rolls into May, Colorado finally seems to have fallen into its typical spring weather patterns after a record dry and hot March. While almost all of the state is still experiencing some level of drought, recent storms have helped boost the spring snowpack and slow its rapid melt.
“The good news out of all this was that we got some much-needed moisture,” said Lucas Boyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. “That’s kind of helping us keep any of the fire weather concerns away for the time being.”
Snow on the Western Slope
The jet stream, a band of strong wind in the atmosphere, has been hanging over the southern U.S. and bringing storms with it, Boyer said.
A storm worked its way over the Western Slope on Sunday and Monday, dropping 2 to 5 inches of snow in many of the state’s mountainous areas. Gothic, north of Crested Butte, reported 9 inches of snow, he said.
Other areas saw an inch or less of rain. Grand Junction received about a tenth of an inch, while Cedaredge, located at about 6,500 feet in elevation, received closer to an inch.
Because of the cloud cover and precipitation, areas north of Interstate 70 have been 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the 30-year norm, measured from 1991 to 2020. In southwestern Colorado, temperatures were about 5 degrees cooler than the norm.
The moisture has helped increase relative humidity, an influential factor in wildfire weather, Boyer said. Once the humidity drops below 15%, the wildfire risk goes up.
“When we look at drought and fire risk, any uptick in moisture can really suppress that critical fire weather condition and buy you some breathing room from those conditions,” Boyer said.
Looking ahead, Western Slope communities can expect more snow and rain this week with temperatures hovering closer to normal.
A storm moving over the state Wednesday night could bring 3 to 6 inches of snow to elevations above 8,000 feet in the San Juan and central mountains Thursday and Friday, Boyer said. northwestern Colorado will see less snow from this storm system.
With snow in the forecast, drivers should be prepared especially on mountain passes at nighttime, he said.
“We were really warm and dry in March, and now we’re in kind of a true spring pattern,” Boyer said.
Winter weather in north-central Colorado
There was enough snow in north-central and northeastern Colorado over the weekend to warrant a winter weather advisory, said Kenley Bonner, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Boulder.
The advisory, issued Sunday at noon, warned of snow totals from 2 to 8 inches with winds gusting up to 45 mph. In total, a few inches of snow fell in higher elevations, she said. Two inches fell near Kremmling in Grand County, and there was a dusting in Middle Park, ranging from two-tenths to eight-tenths of an inch. Winter Park received about 6 inches of snow Monday night.
Coming up, showers are expected to start along the Palmer Divide, a west-east facing ridge from Park County to western Lincoln County, and move into the plains Wednesday afternoon.
A total of 7 to 20 inches of snow could fall along the Front Range mountains between Wednesday and Friday, with more falling in the southern foothills, Bonner said.
The plains, along the Palmer Divide and just north of it, could see half an inch of rain with less falling to the north. Temperatures were forecast to be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than normal Wednesday, dropping lower — as much as 25 degrees — below normal Thursday. It’ll start to warm up again Friday and into the weekend, she said.
“There are some chances along the Front Range for expecting some additional light snow showers,” Bonner said. “And there’s still some uncertainty on exactly how much precipitation we’ll get with this next system.”
Sparse rain in the southeast
South-central and southeastern Colorado are seeing less rain this week than some other areas of the state — but it could still be enough to offer relief from drought conditions for farmers, ranchers, reservoirs and communities.
Some spotty rain, less than half an inch in most areas, fell in El Paso County Sunday, said Kathy Torgerson, an NWS meteorologist in Pueblo.
Most areas of the region received less than an inch of rain Monday, Torgerson said. Temperatures were warmer than the 30-year norm Sunday and slightly cooler than the norm Monday.
The Colorado Springs airport reported 0.17 inch of rainfall Monday, while the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs had about three-quarters to eight-tenths of an inch of rain with some hail about the size of a small marble or dime.
The region is looking at increased chances for precipitation heading into the end of the week, Torgerson said. Thursday night is the best chance for snow and rain across southern Colorado, and there could be locally heavy snow bursts.
Wednesday temperatures will be in the 60s in the lower elevations, 50s in the valleys and 30s for the mountains. They should fall lower by Thursday and Friday.
The coming storm is a bit of a wild card for precipitation, she said.
“Up across the high country, there’s a chance, if everything comes together, that we could see maybe 15 inches of snow,” she said. “We’ll just have to see how the storm comes through.”
Rains in the lower elevations should offer some slight relief from drought conditions.
“I don’t think this is going to bust the drought, per se, because we’re so far in a hole as far as needing rainfall,” Torgerson said. “But it will help us for the short term at least.”