Click the link to read the article on the Summit Daily website (Ryan Spencer). Here’s an excerpt:
March 30, 2026
As Colorado’s snowpack tracked near record-lows all winter long, state climatologists pointed to two previous winters that had potentially been worse than this year: the seasons of 1976-77 and 1980-81. Now, after an “unprecedented” spring heat wave, the Colorado Climate Center says the state is probably experiencing its worst snowpack on record for this time of year, worse even than those two historically bad seasons for snowfall…With Colorado’s snowpack already sitting near historical lows nearly all winter, Mazurek said the extended period of extremely hot temperatures this month has “exacerbated an already bad situation” as it has fueled a rapid melt off. On average, Colorado’s snowpack peaks on April 7, so the state should still be adding to its snowpack throughout the month of March, Mazurek said. But this year, she said that the state’s snowpack has probably already peaked and the heatwave has driven a “massive nosedive” in the state’s snowpack…Over the roughly two-week heatwave, the snow telemetry data shows that Colorado’s statewide snowpack has declined by more than 50%, losing just shy of 5 inches of snow-water equivalent, from a peak of 8.5 inches. Statewide, the snowpack for this time of year is just 24% of normal, according to the data.