Click the link to read the article on the Colorado Public Radio website (Haylee May). Here’s an excerpt:
February 16, 2026
The only thing snow shovels have been gathering recently is dust as Metro-Denver finds itself more than a foot behind its normal snowfall total this winter. Boulder National Weather Service Meteorologist, Russell Danielson, said the normal snow total through the end of January for metro-Denver is 27 inches. This year, just 13.4 inches fell. That’s a sharp drop from 2025, when the region saw 38 inches of snow over the same time frame. In the mountains, it’s even starker. Breckenridge typically sees 101.7 inches by the end of January. This year? Just 34 inches. The lack of snow has largely been framed as a ski industry problem. But across the Front Range and into Colorado’s river corridors, it’s become something broader — and more immediate. From car washes in southwest Denver to rafting guides scanning snowpack data in the high country, the dry winter is rewriting balance sheets in real time…For other weather-dependent businesses, the impact is far more dramatic.
“We calculated that we’re about 70% down,” said Amy Campbell, office manager for Bear Creek Tree Service in Englewood. In a typical winter, her crews plow at least every other week — sometimes multiple times depending on the storm…
The economic ripple from a dry winter won’t stop when the season changes. And that has small business owners who rely on summer tourism also worried. In Kremmling, co-owner of Downstream Adventures, Jonathan Snodgrass, is already watching the snowpack charts — not for ski conditions, but for river levels.
“I’m feeling a little worried,” he said. “If it stays on this track, we’re looking at not a lot of water to work with for rafting. That could have some big impacts on the duration of our season and the quality of our product.”
Rafting on Clear Creek and the upper Colorado River depends heavily on snowmelt. In low years like 2018, Clear Creek trips ended around the third weekend of July. In stronger years, they run into late August — sometimes up to Labor Day. Those final weeks are critical.
