Click the link to read the article on The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel website (Dennis Webbs). Here’s an excerpt:
January 14 2026
Colorado’s snowpack levels remain meager so far this winter season, with little moisture in the near-term local forecast in a year when water managers can scarcely afford a poor spring runoff season due to low storage levels downstream in Lake Powell. The state’s snowpack stood at 63% of median as of Tuesday, according to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service. Levels range from 76-77% in some basins in far-northern Colorado to 58% in the Colorado River headwaters and just 50% in the Arkansas River basin. The Gunnison River Basin is at 63% of median.
The NRCS said in a news release that warm and dry conditions have led to the below-normal snowpack conditions. Climatologist Allie Mazurek with The Colorado Climate Center said in a December blog post that September-November was the fourth-warmest on record for that period for Colorado, with November in specific being third-warmest on record. Some Western Slope locations had their warmest fall on record, Mazurek wrote. The conditions have challenged ski resorts that have opened later, and with limited terrain. But Powderhorn Mountain Resort announced Saturday that it would be boosting its operations through the opening of its West End Lift the following day, following a 15-inch storm and cooler temperatures that allowed around-the-clock snowmaking.