Residents of Denver and points north and east have experienced a wetter than average summer, according to the National Weather Service and Colorado State University.
The weather station at Denver International Airport has recorded rainfall at 2.7 inches above normal for the summer, and a station in the eastern plains town of Akron is three inches above average. Nearer the foothills, summer rainfall has not been as strong, said Zach Schwalbe, a climatologist and research associate at Colorado State University.
"The Northern Colorado area has definitely been wetter than average. And then as you go further west and further south it gets closer to average and even below average for areas," Schwalbe said.
The wetter summer has been good for the state's overall water supply, especially coupled with a fairly wet winter, said Schwalbe.
" I'd say it's kind of a mixture of both rainfall and snowfall that has been keeping the streams higher," he said.
Parts of the eastern plains and far northeastern part of the state have seen heavy rain this August, as the map below shows.
The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center predicts this fall will also be wetter and cooler than average across the state. Earlier this year, Klaus Wolter, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder said an El Nino may lead to early snowstorms in the Front Range, perhaps in October.
