As Colorado’s ski resorts gear up for opening season, forecasters say the state’s snowpack is lagging behind seasonal averages, even as six resorts have already welcomed their first skiers and snowboarders.
Three of those six resorts – Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Loveland Ski Area – all opened their chairlifts last weekend despite one of the driest starts to the snowy season in almost a decade. Statewide, this year’s mountain snowpack ranks as the second lowest since the 1980s; the lowest was 2016.
But ski resorts are staying hopeful.
“We’re only down about 10 inches from where we were last year,” said Dustin Schaeffer, a spokesperson for Loveland Ski Area. “Everything usually works out the same with Mother Nature.”
And to Schaeffer’s point, forecasters say there’s still plenty of time for conditions to turn around. November marks only the beginning of Colorado’s snowpack season, which typically builds from October through late April.
“Anytime you get off to a slow start to the winter, it's always a little bit concerning to see,” said Zach Hiris, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “But importantly, we’re very early into the snowpack season across the mountains.”
Snowpack is more than just good news for skiers. It also acts as Colorado’s largest natural reservoir, feeding rivers that supply water to millions of people across the West. When snowfall lags early in the season, it can raise concerns about spring runoff, drought conditions and water levels in major basins like the Colorado River.
“All of this is in the context of the planet getting warmer, Colorado getting warmer. We’re starting to see the snow season shrink a bit on average,” Colorado’s state climatologist Russ Schumacher said.
Forecasters like Hiris and Schumacher have also noticed that snowpack across the Rockies is becoming increasingly variable. Both experts say one strong storm cycle can dramatically change the outlook.
“It’s Colorado, anything can happen,” Schumacher said.
Denver has yet to see its first measurable snowfall of the season, and forecasters don’t expect much change in the short term. Temperatures were in the 60s and 70s throughout the week, with only a slight chance of seeing some snow early this week. The Denver metro saw its hottest November day ever on Nov. 2 with temperatures in the 80s.
“It’s always nice to get off to a quick start, especially for people that like the winter recreation out here and want to get out to the ski resorts, that sort of thing,” Hiris said. “But in terms of what this means for the snowpack year, we’ve got a long way to go, thankfully.”
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