Click the link to read the article on the Alamosa Citizen website:
February 28, 2026
Rancher Greg Higel usually opens a barn door for his cows to enter during the cold winter nights. Lately he’s been leaving the cows out at night because “the less you mess with them, the better off they are.”
The February weather has been warm enough not to mess with the cows.
The last two Februarys – 2025 and 2026 – have seen the daily maximum temperature average 50 degrees-plus in Alamosa, according to National Weather Service data. That has never happened before in the Valley’s climate history.
National Weather Service records as far back as 1948 show only the past two Februarys so warm that ranchers like Higel, who are in the midst of their calving season, worry less about their cows at night and more about their grassfields and what the warm winter means for the ground itself. Included in that are overnight temps averaging in the double digits and frequently in the 20s.
“I don’t think it’s good for the farm ground,” Higel says. He was hopeful the heavy October rains that had flooded his meadows would leave water frozen in the fields through the winter months. But the water hardly froze and the worry now is the anticipated light spring runoff and available water for the grass growing season ahead.
Of the 28 days in February this year, 20 have seen the daily maximum temperature exceed 50 degrees. The highest temperature for the month was 65 degrees on Feb. 25, following 64 degrees on Feb. 24, which established a new high for the date.
February 2025 was just as warm and warmer, with an average daily high temperature of 52.8 degrees. It was a year ago when the phenomenon of average 50-degree weather days was first noted after the mercury hit 60 degrees on 5 of the first 7 days of last February.
Suffice it to say, if it is this warm in February in the high mountain desert, the snowpack is going to suffer. The Upper Rio Grande Basin enters March measuring 55 percent of median on a snowwater equivalent index, which is what worries irrigators.
And it’s not just ranchers and farmers who should be paying attention.
Adam Moore, supervisory forester with Colorado State Forest Service, says trees around the home need watering when the winter months are this warm. The constant threat of wildfire is another reason to pay attention.
“The SLV and the plains are still facing red flag warnings. There have been large grass fires in Oklahoma and Kansas. The conditions for those fires are not much different than what we have in the SLV. Just like the red flag warnings all year long, wildfire preparedness should occur all year,” he says.
Just don’t get too far ahead. Gardeners should stick to the normal planting times, with mid-April being the earliest for any tree planting.
“Don’t let the warm weather fool you and plant early,” Moore says. “We still stand the chance of late frosts.”
Tell that to Tomas Miera.
“I’ve been riding all winter. My goodness, today is going to be like 64,” he says, standing in his front yard in a short sleeve shirt, shorts and shining his Harley Davidson. “I’m going for a ride later on.”
February allows for it. It’s never been this way.