From The Denver Post (Jesse Paul):
The U.S. Drought Monitor says 24.31 percent of Colorado falls into the category, including much of the Denver metro and areas to the east and south. The report also says 91 percent of the state is “abnormally dry,” including nearly all of the high country.
“A dry October resulted in the expansion of abnormally dry conditions in the northern half of New Mexico as well as across much of Colorado,” the report said. “Colorado also saw a widespread expansion of moderate drought along the higher elevations east of the Continental Divide, along the Front Range corridor, and across the eastern plains.”
[…]
Forecasters say there isn’t an immediate end to the warm streak in sight. Jim Kalina, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder, said earlier this week that there won’t be any major cool-off in the near future and that the Climate Prediction Center is calling for above-normal temperatures through November.
The warmth has hit Colorado’s ski areas hard as they gear up to start the season. The unseasonably warm weather has made snowmaking limited to impossible.
From Westword (Colin Bane):
While some trappings of early ski season are already upon us – Arapahoe Basin has been open since October 21, several Colorado ski areas saw a few inches of natural snow this week and the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo opens on Friday at the Colorado Convention Center – you could be forgiven for not having skiing and snowboarding on your mind while temperatures are still in the 70s here in Denver. It’s been warm up in the hills, too: Keystone and Wolf Creek each announced this week that they’ll be postponing their opening days, previously scheduled for this Friday.
Wolf Creek is hedging even more and hasn’t announced a new date at all: There’s almost no snow on the ground yet at a resort more typically known for having the most snow in Colorado.
Loveland Ski Area historically gives Arapahoe Basin a run for its money as the first ski area in North America to open each season but has yet to announce an opening date for the 2016-2017 season.
From The Fort Collins Coloradoan (Jacy Marmaduke):
The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday, shows a huge portion of Colorado newly encased in a moderate drought or abnormal dryness, the precursor to drought. About 90 percent of the state is now in drought territory, and that’s a big deal for all Coloradans because the state’s water and food resources are widespread.
Notably, moderate drought persists in Fort Collins and Denver and has now spread to Boulder, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. “Moderate” is the first of four levels of drought severity.
If conditions persist — and the National Weather Service predicts they will for Fort Collins — residents can expect damage to crops and pastures, developing or imminent water shortages and a request for voluntary water-use restrictions.
Drought or drought-like conditions haven’t spread across so much of the state since 2012-2013, when a drought of varying severity overtook all of Colorado, devastating crops, livestock and rivers. That was the last time Fort Collins saw a drought.
Drought impacts in Fort Collins have been relatively minor so far because of solid snowpack and spring moisture, but the ongoing dryness means the region will badly need plenty of winter moisture in order to avoid more severe impacts come spring, Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doesken previously told the Coloradoan.
Seasonal forecasts are undecided for winter moisture in Northern Colorado.
Fort Collins has been in a moderate drought since August after two months of abnormal dryness. A historically dry June with only 0.05 inches of rain kick-started the arid conditions, and since then the city has gotten less than about half the normal amount of rain each month.
Compare that to Greeley, which saw close to normal rain all summer and didn’t enter near-drought conditions until last week. Denver and Boulder joined Fort Collins in moderate drought faster because they started drying up in July.
Unusually dry weather in September and October — not soaking-wet months to begin with — seems to have sealed the deal for most of the rest of the state, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The latter two cities and most of southern Colorado saw historic dryness during the last two months.
Drought classifications are based on weather (including precipitation), vegetation stress and other factors.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center hasn’t released a drought outlook since the new Colorado regions entered drought, but it recently predicted Fort Collins will remain in a drought through winter. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll have a bone-dry winter, just that whatever we get is less likely to alleviate the drought.
Fort Collins precipitation
June: 0.05 inches (2.3 percent of the 1981-2010 normal)
July: 0.91 inches (53 percent of normal)
August: 0.76 inches (48 percent of normal)
September: 0.19 inches (14 percent of normal)
October: 0.31 inches (27 percent of normal)