Colorado is set for another snow storm Thursday and Friday, with mountain snow and scattered rain showers expected to linger into the weekend and another round of unsettled weather possible around Monday. Forecasters say the wet, cooler pattern should carry into the start of May, but they do not expect it to erase the state’s deep drought.
Lucas Boyer said the latest moisture is welcome but limited. “The truth of the matter is that we’ve been so dry that it does feel wet right now,” he said, adding that it will not “be enough to move the needle” because the system does not carry “excessive amounts of water.”
Some mountain locations picked up up to 1 inch of snow-water equivalent this week, a decent April showing but only average for the month. In Meeker, liquid precipitation is still 3 inches below normal for this time of year, leaving the town with roughly one-quarter of its usual precipitation. In Aspen, average precipitation for this time of year is down by about 30%.
The bigger picture remains bleak. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly the entire Western Slope under extreme drought or exceptional drought conditions, and the northwest corner of Colorado is facing some of the worst drought in the country. Boyer said the moisture on the ground is helping keep critical fire weather “at arm’s reach” by lifting relative humidity, but forecasters have not seen a big storm that would break down the high-pressure system and bring the strong winds that can drive dangerous fire conditions.
The storm system moving in from the south on Thursday and Friday could drop between 5 and 13 inches of snowfall, with the highest totals expected on the Front Range and in the Mosquito Range. Drivers are being told to take care Thursday night and Friday morning along the I-70 corridor near Vail Pass, where slick roads are possible. Thunderstorms are also possible, and forecasters said Colorado is likely to keep trending slightly wetter and hotter over the next two weeks. For now, the snow storm offers a pause, not a fix.
