Current Colorado Winter Outlook

Below is a map of Colorado that blew me away. I knew it was a low snow year so far for Colorado, but to look at this map just plan hurts. Not only are we 70% of our average snow fall, but we are  91% of last years snow fall. Never in my wildest dream could I imagine that last year would be better then this year, but that is the case so far.

To top it off it's not looking good until the end of the month. On January 23th it looks like a storm will finally hit the West Coast. It is anyone's guess if it will hit Colorado as long range weather models are very unpredictable and the weather pattern has been trending mainly North of Colorado. Even worse is the thought of this drought that has plagued the area for about two years now. At this rate our reservoirs and rivers will be struggling to fill up. I can not imagine the Blue Mesa Reservoir any worse then last year, and my sail boat can not either. Check out the Colorado reservoir storage graph for a more detailed look at all the reservoirs in Colorado and there percentage of capacity.

On the positive side, if you are willing to travel most other ski areas around the west are doing much better. Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, and Wyoming are near or above average. Below is a graph illustrating this.

Also check out this graph which illustrates the previous 3 winters, the current winter, and the median and averages. You can see how slow of a start we had, and also how big December was. the graph speaks for itself.

I keep hearing how bad the conditions are in Colorado right now from friends, on the news, and online forecasting sites. Is bike season right around the corner for Colorado? I think not as we still have three more months left. All we need is a few good dumps and the resorts will be skiing well again. Until then, pray for snow!