If you’ve been trying to imagine just how dry Colorado is this year, how bad the snowpack is, how high the fire danger is, I offer this photo from The Colorado Sun:
This was the Telluride ski area two days ago, March 25. Telluride is ranked as one of the state’s top ski areas, often in the top five, but it has announced an April 5 closing this year. Several of the state’s ski resorts have announced their closings in the next few weeks, whereas normal closings are in late April or even May for the higher resorts.
The mountain snowpack is a primary water source for the rest of the state and this morning it’s reportedly just 30% of median. Worse, because of the record warmth, it’s disappearing much faster than usual.
Greater Denver is in a “severe drought” and many municipalities have already enacted Stage One water restrictions. That means residents are not to turn on outdoor irrigation systems until May, and then can only water on two assigned days a week instead of three. The rules will be enforced by, first, a warning. A second offense will incur a fine. And if those fail, the city will simply shut off the home’s water altogether. Sadly, neighbors are also being encouraged to report violators.
The photo in the header is a screenshot from the summit of Pikes Peak (14,115 ft) this morning. Certainly not the amount of snow normally there in March.
See also Best webcams from Rocky Mountain NP to Pikes Peak, although cloud cover, smoke from Nebraska fires, and dust from our eastern plains are blanketing much of northern Colorado this morning. At least the result is cooler temperatures, now in the 40s instead of the 80s.