More than 100 sensors measuring snowpack around Colorado generally told the same concerning story at the end of 2025.
“There's not really anywhere in Colorado that's doing well in terms of snowpack right now,” Colorado state climatologist Russ Schumacher said Wednesday. “About a third of the stations across the state are either at their lowest or second lowest snowpacks, the water-equivalent in the snow for this time of year.”
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
A very warm December and a lack of snowstorms combined to keep snowpack well below normal statewide.
The Upper Arkansas Basin in the central part of the state is currently the driest, with about 49% of the normal snowpack.
Schumacher said one measuring site in northern Colorado near Cameron Pass recorded the lowest end-of-year snowpack level since measurements started there more than 40 years ago.
“But there's still a long way to go,” Schumacher said of the winter season. “And you know, what happens over the next few months is really what's going to be critical, from the perspective of the building up snowpack for the water supply.”
While storms in the coming months could reverse the state's low snowpack trend, Schumacher said Colorado’s winter recreation industry is currently bearing the brunt of the slow start.
A National Weather Service Meteorologist in Grand Junction told the Summit Daily News that temperatures on Christmas Day were 15 to 25 degrees above normal across the mountains.
Some resorts even saw rain during the holiday week.
It will be a few months before it’s clear whether critical water supplies will be affected by the slow start to winter.
"The snowpack in Colorado's mountains is hugely important because it's the water supply for people not just here in Colorado, but in all directions," Schumacher said.
He added that the long-term outlook for spring storms is uncertain.
“It's not going to end up as a way above average snow year here in Colorado,” he said. “I think we can probably rule that out at this point, but getting back to a decent status, or close to average, is at least still a possibility that could happen.”
