‘Not great’ but ‘OK’: How a dry winter is impacting hay season in the Yampa Valley — Steamboat Pilot & Today #YampaRiver

Yampa River inflow to Stagecoach Reservoir April 22, 2026. Photo credit: Scott Hummer

Click the link to read the article on the Steamboat Pilot & Today website (Elainna Hemming). Here’s an excerpt:

June 12, 2026

Ranchers are constantly adjusting to changing weather conditions and seasonal variations by nature. Jay Fetcher, of Fetcher Ranch in North Routt County, has documented snow melt dates for his hay meadows for each of the 75 years the ranch has been in the family, and said the variation is “incredible.” A year with low snowpack and a warm spring is just another condition to adjust to in the ranching world. This year, dryland hay broke dormancy early in Routt County, meaning cutting has already started, about two or three weeks earlier than usual. The low snowpack is not only generating concerns for ranchers with irrigated hay but water concerns for those with livestock. Despite these problems, the general consensus was that this year is expected to be below average, but not detrimental.

“People with dry land probably can expect some reduced yields, but I will say that the rains we’ve gotten over the last couple weeks have brought on grasses in dry land and pasture situation areas better than I would have anticipated,” said Todd Hagenbuch, the county director and agriculture agent for the Colorado State University Routt County Extension…

The second big concern from the lack of snowpack was water for cattle and other livestock. According to Hagenbuch, the snow runoff fills ponds and streams that the animals drink out of, but this year there’s simply no water in a lot of them. For ranchers whose ponds and streams are not filled, they have to haul water in for the livestock. 

“That’s the big issue is adequate water for livestock, and it will be all summer,” said Mucklow. Mucklow is currently not needing to haul water on his ranch, but he personally knows several ranchers who are in that position. 

Mucklow also said that there is a federal drought program conducted by the U.S Department of Agriculture that compensates ranchers who have to haul water. 

Having drinking water for his cattle was also a primary concern for Fetcher earlier in the season. “It was on my mind as we had no snowpack, and the snow was gone,” said Fetcher. On his ranch, they rely on the streams and springs for the cows in the pastures. Fetcher said the recent rains gave him a significant amount of moisture that eased his worries considerably. 

Yampa River Basin via Wikimedia.

South Platte River Basin #climate summary for the week ending June 15, 2026

The South Platte river basin is pretty much melted out. Below is the June 15, 2026 Snow Water Equivalent in South Platte graph from the NRCS.

Below is the Precipitation Accumulation in South Platte graph from the NRCS for June 15, 2026. Precipitation is at 74% of the median and 58% of the water year median this morning. There are 107 days left in the water year.

It looks sunny and warm all week in the central and northern mountains. It also looks sunny and warm all week down here in Denver where Edward M. McCook served as the 5th and 7th Governor of Colorado Territory. From Wikipedia; “On June 14, 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed Edward M. McCook as the fifth governor of the Colorado Territory. McCook served during a critical period leading up to Colorado’s statehood in 1876…McCook’s administration coincided with the early years of irrigation development along the Front Range. During this period, communities began constructing many of the ditches and diversion systems that later became the foundation of Colorado’s prior-appropriation water rights system. The rapid agricultural growth of the 1870s was already underway by the time he took office…McCook was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on June 15, 1833. As a young man, he moved to the Kansas Territory and became a lawyer. He joined the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush in 1859 and represented the Pikes Peak region in the Kansas Territorial House of Representatives…In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed McCook Governor of the Territory of Colorado, a selection bitterly opposed by Jerome B. Chaffee, the Colorado Territorial Delegate to the United States House of Representatives. During his tenure, Governor McCook signed the legislation that created Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University) and was among the first territorial governors to endorse women’s suffrage.”

General Edward M. McCook, U.S.A. By Mathew Benjamin Brady – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection CALL NUMBER: LC-BH831- 935[P&P], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1355339
Smith Ditch Washington Park, Denver

Here’s a look at the 7-Day Colorado precipitation map through June 14, 2026 from the High Plains Regional Climate Center. Precipitation in the South Platte Basin along the Continental Divide of the Americas ranged from 0.00” to 0.30”.

Here’s the 7-Day percent of normal precipitation map through June 14, 2026 from the High Plains Regional Climate Center. Precipitation in the South Platte River Basin along the Continental Divide of the Americas ranged from 0% to 50% of normal.

Here’s the 7-Day Quantitative Precipitation Forecast issued June 15, 2026 by NOAA. Precipitation is anticipated for the mountains of the South Platte River Basin and may total 0.50”.

Below are the 8-14 day outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center, issued June 15, 2026, for temperature and precipitation, for the week starting June 22, 2026. The CPC expects above normal temperatures and above normal precipitation for the mountains of the South Platte River Basin.

Below is the Colorado Drought Monitor map from June 9, 2026. There were one class degradations in Weld and Morgan counties, in the South Platte River Basin. Drought and abnormal dryness covers 99.45% of Colorado. The South Platte Basin is experiencing Abnormally Dry, Moderate, Severe, Extreme, and Exceptional drought conditions.

Colorado Drought Monitor map June 9, 2026.

Below is the Colorado Drought Monitor one week change map ending June 9, 2026.

Colorado Drought Monitor one week change map ending June 9, 2026.

Here’s the US Drought Monitor Map from last week along with the one week U.S. change map.

US Drought Monitor map June 9, 2026.
US Drought Monitor one week change map ending June 9, 2026.

The Climate Prediction Center published their latest El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) diagnostic discussion last week. They write: “June 8, 2026, ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Advisory. Synopsis: El Niño conditions are present and expected to strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2026-27.

Official ENSO probabilities for the Niño 3.4 relative sea surface temperature index (5°N-5°S, 170°W -120°W) minus tropical mean (20°N-20°S). The relative index is re-scaled to match the variance of the traditional index. Figure updated 11 June 2026. Higher resolution image/table: https://cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso/roni/probabilities/