The first winter storm of the season brings drought relief to southeast Colorado

The first big winter storm of the season is dumping inches to feet of snow across Colorado — bringing some drought relief with it.

Coloradans, especially those in the southern and eastern parts of the state, have seen buckets of steady snowfall since early this week. The heavy precipitation has closed schools and frustrated commuters, but it has also been a boon for ski resorts, dry soils and fire agencies.

“We haven’t broken any records yet, but this is a big, first snowstorm of the season for us, and it’s delivering quite well down south,” said Makoto Moore, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Pueblo.

This Fresh Water News story is a collaboration between The Colorado Sun and Water Education Colorado. It also appears at wateredco.org/fresh-water-news.

The slow-moving winter storm brought feet of snow to areas of Colorado as it heads from Arizona to Kansas. The storm is expected to wind down in Colorado by Saturday.

La Veta Pass in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains had 2 feet, and Walsenburg had seen a foot of new snow, as of Thursday morning. Southern areas, especially counties along the Colorado-New Mexico border, could see another 2.5 to 3 feet of snow by Friday, Moore said.

Communities across the Front Range and Eastern Plains had reported anywhere from 4 inches to 21 inches since Tuesday, as of Thursday.

“We’re getting bands of snow that are moving across the area, at times (with) pretty big flakes — it looks like movie snow,” said Moore, who is based in Pueblo.

In response, the weather service issued winter weather watches and warnings. Drivers were warned against heading out on snow-clogged, icy roads. Schools started late or closed entirely in Front Range and eastern areas.

Boulder County lifted Stage 1 fire restrictions for some western areas of the county. In the high country, the snow hit at the perfect time for ski resorts getting ready to open for the season. Breckenridge ski area, which opens Friday, received 24 inches of snow in the past week, as of Thursday morning.

“We’re stoked on the new snow in the mountains, especially here in Summit County with Keystone already open for the season and Breck getting ready to open tomorrow!” Sara Lococo, spokesperson for the two resorts, wrote in a statement Thursday. 

What does it mean for the snowpack?

The snow season is off to a great start, but — and this is an important “but” — it’s early in the year, and Colorado’s precipitation is unpredictable. 

The San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basins in southwestern Colorado are reporting a combined 344% of the normal snowpack for this time of year. The Gunnison, Upper Rio Grande and Arkansas basins are all 200% above normal. 

Things can change quickly in Colorado winters. Schumacher recalled December 2023, when people were starting to get worried because the snowpack was low. A few weeks of big storms, and everything caught up.

“Similarly, don’t be too optimistic about seeing 200% of average in November because it’s a long snow season yet to come,” he said.

Relief from drought in the southeast

This week’s winter storm is likely to offer relief from summer and fall drought conditions in some parts of the state.

About 34% of the state was experiencing some level of drought in early November, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. These conditions, which are linked to wildfires and suffering crops, were mostly reported in northern, central and eastern Colorado.

When it comes to drought relief and boosting soil moisture, the news is good for the southeastern plains. This storm system will likely bring enough moisture to bolster areas that were short on rain over the summer back up to average precipitation, Schumacher said. 

“If you think of how this will probably show up on the U.S. Drought Monitor next week, it’s going to likely wipe away the drought conditions that show up in southeast Colorado,” he said.

Storm skips northern, western Colorado

This week’s storm system will miss, or barely touch, some areas of the state.

The northern mountains, like the Steamboat Springs area, won’t get much snow this week, and neither will the northern Front Range — the Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins area, Schumacher said. 

This northern region also ended up with the biggest precipitation shortfalls over the summer and fall, Schumacher said. As of Tuesday, they reported extreme drought conditions, the second-worst tier used by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

“I’m in Fort Collins, and we’ve had basically nothing from this storm,” he said Wednesday. “We’ll have to see … what the drought relief is going to look like in these areas.” (By Thursday afternoon, Fort Collins had seen a trace of snow.)

Other areas of the state — like the western side of the San Luis Valley and southwestern Colorado — aren’t getting as much snow this week as Front Range and Eastern Plains. But recent storms in southwestern Colorado have already helped moisten soils and build the snowpack. 

As soils freeze, particularly in higher elevations, these soil conditions — dry or moist — are locked in until the spring thaw.

“(This storm) might help prime the soils for next spring, but it’s hard to know for sure that the moisture that falls in November is still there in March or April,” Schumacher said.