Colorado Snowpack Melts Quicker and Earlier Than Ever Before

The snowpack in southern Colorado is melting much earlier this year than ever before, only having around 6% of the snow left. In late April, an unseasonably large and fast melt occurred, leaving the snowpack unsalvageable for the season. Usually, the snowpack lives on to provide water for the state’s farmers and ranchers through the summer as it slowly melts, allowing for natural water usage for much of the year to water crops and farmland. However now, before summer has even officially hit, nearly all of the snow is melted leaving the water sources depleted as we head into the hot season.

Northern Colorado still has some snow, but the south is barren.

Thus far, water has not been too much of an issue as there was a large surplus of water in the reservoir leftover from last year. Colorado saw a higher amount of rainfall than they have in the past in 2023 meaning they have not been struggling due to lack of water yet. However, they are unsure of what the future looks like for the state’s farming. Experts said that without the surplus, they would have a horrible year for Colorado crops. 2024 could have looked like 2021, in which most who replied on the snowpacks for water only received 10% of what they normally do.

The basin of San Miguel-Dolores-Animas-San Juan peaked with 18 inches in the first few days of April.

After April 2^nd, the basin started to deplete, losing most of its water supply in the shortest time frame it has since they began to keep record in the 1980s. As of this last week, the basin showed about 1.1 inches of liquid water left in the snowpack. At this point in the year in prior years, the was at least twice as much being held still. The climatologist of Colorado, Russ Schumacher, believes that the little water that is left will likely be gone within the coming weeks, and even likely days.

At this point in the year, it is unlikely that they will get more rain or snow for a while. Experts are starting to express their concerns about what this lack of water could mean for this year’s harvests and the infrastructure of the state.