Photo: The Denver Post

March is the snowiest month — usually

(Updated Mar. 15, 2013 @ 9 pm MDT)


According to several websites, March is the snowiest month in Denver. Right. That would explain why my outdoor thermometer just hit 78°, my windows are wide open, the house has warmed up to 74°, and I’m wearing sandals.

Look at the snowpack map from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Colorado is in a world of hurt right now. Worse, the Denver metro is in the South Platte drainage. We depend on that snowpack for most of our summer water supply; groundwater alone is not enough.

Meteorologists are saying we need 8 feet of snow in the high country to bring us up to normal levels. Yes, we sometimes have major late season snowstorms, but it’s nothing we can count on. With all this in mind, three area municipalities have already announced that water restrictions will become effective April 1.

And have I mentioned there’s a wildfire, now estimated to be 750-1,000 acres, burning west of Fort Collins?

It’s only March 15, but I have a really bad feeling about the coming summer …

Colorado snowpack, March 2013

16 thoughts on “March is the snowiest month — usually

    1. We had maybe two months with no fires after snow snuffed the Fern Lake fire. Now we’re off and running again. I haven’t even been able to enjoy this beautiful day for worrying about what it means for the rest of the year.

    1. Oooo, please make it stop. My son, his dad, and my grandson are flying over there in about 10 days. They’d sure appreciate a week of reasonably dry weather.

  1. Well March has come in like a lion where we live. We got spoiled one day as it felt like spring and higher temperatures were here…but it didn’t not stay. Tonight we are having a low of 24. Ugh

    1. Sounds like a typical crazy March everywhere. But if you’d like to get rid of any excess snow or water, please sent it to Denver. We’ve got this lil wildfire goin’ … uh, wild up north of here.

      1. There are no woods here, but the ticks are awful! There are farm animals all around, plus the river is only a few miles east, so this is one of the more “lush” areas south of the Sangre de Cristos down here in the flatlands of the desert.

... and that's my two cents