the Marshall Fire, four years ago today

“The winter of 1976-77 is generally thought to be the worst snow year in our mountains but the SNOTEL network wasn’t built out yet at that point, so it’s hard to make direct comparisons...But the fact that we’re even in the same conversation with that winter is not good news.” (Summit Daily)

It hasn't been cold this December, but 3 years ago it got cold in a hurry. Do you remember the cold front on December 21, 2022? It was extreme in all kinds of ways, which you can read about in this blog post. Among the highlights: the temperature dropped almost 25°F in ten seconds in Akron! #cowx

Aaaand it's officially Denver's hottest December day in 86 years. 76° so far in Denver. That's our average high on...May 27th. #COwx

New blog post: Where is the snow? A look at the warm, dry weather and what to expect for the start of 2026. #cowx

Wildfires can spread quickly — by the time one is nearby, you may not have much time. Have an evacuation plan, and prepare an emergency supply kit ahead of time. Listen to local officials for emergency information and any evacuation orders.

Very strong winds and extremely dry conditions are expected across the Front Range tomorrow (Dec. 19). Critical fire weather conditions will be in place, with the greatest risk over parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties. Key messages below from NWS Boulder. Stay safe and weather aware! #cowx

Extreme winds were observed across eastern Colorado yesterday, with numerous wildfires growing quickly in Yuma County last night. The strongest winds were in the foothills, with several reports of gusts over 100mph. But the >80mph gusts on the eastern plains are perhaps even more unusual. #cowx

Key messages from NWS Boulder's briefing on the upcoming high winds along the Front Range. Available at: www.weather.gov/media/bou/Ds... #cowx

November was the 3rd-warmest on record for Colorado: 7.5°F above the 20th century average for the month. And much of the state was dry, with little snow in either the mountains or at lower elevations. Read more in our November monthly climate summary: climate.colostate.edu/monthly_summ... #cowx

High Wind Warning across much of northern Colorado today. There have already been reports of 70-90mph gusts in the foothills and mountains. #cowx

Yesterday, we hosted a meeting for partners and stakeholders of CoAgMET, Colorado's Mesonet. We shared the latest updates and plans, heard ideas for how to make the network even better, and visited the unique station setup on the roof of the Hydro building at the CSU Spur campus in Denver.

"...we still have a long winter ahead, and it looks like this week, we'll have a storm come in that will finally bring some moisture to the Front Range and Eastern Plains." #cowx www.kunc.org/news/2025-11...

If all this warm and dry November weather has you thinking back to October when there was quite a bit more happening, our monthly summary is for you. Including the big southwest rainstorm and flood, a lack of mountain snow, and more warmth on the Plains: climate.colostate.edu/monthly_summ... #cowx

The sun is bringing the beauty both night and day this week with overnight Aurora's followed by a spectacular sunrise with morning's first light splashing on the underside of a cloud deck over Colorado.

We hope you've been looking up tonight! Here's our view from Fort Collins a little earlier 🌌

Water Year 2025 was the 10th warmest on record for Colorado and featured drought, fires, floods, and even a record-setting snowstorm. We recap all that and more in our Colorado Water Year 2025 Summary! ⬇️

Big temperature swings this week! Loop: Map showing the forecast high (max) temperature departure from normal Today - Sunday. 🟦Much BELOW normal temperatures 🟥Much ABOVE normal temperatures weather.gov

The Guinness World Records lists the largest volunteer weather observation network as CoCoRaHS based out of CSU at our @climate.colostate.edu. CoCoRaHS is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds. www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-record...

“Some of the smaller, more local reservoirs saw significant improvement,” said Peter Goble, a climatologist for the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University. “If we look at our reservoir giants, like Powell and Mead, unfortunately at that scale this is kind of a drop in the bucket.”

Lots of new daily high temperature records were set across Colorado yesterday, some by more than 5℉! ☀️

It's been a busy couple of weeks of drought improvements across Colorado! Here's a recap of what's changed in the past two weeks across the state. 🌧️ And ICYMI, check out our previous post for a summary of the remarkable rainfall that brought these major changes to the Drought Monitor.

Some further details on the rainfall and flooding in southwest Colorado last week, including storm-total rain amounts, comparison to a similar event in October 1911, and improvements to the drought situation in the area. #cowx

There were major improvements to this week's drought monitor following the significant precipitation and flooding that impacted western CO over the past week. Changes include two-category improvements over portions of southwest CO, many of which are now drought-free. #cowx

Some early analysis of the major rainfall and flooding in southwest Colorado this weekend in this blog post. It was one of the largest fall rainstorms ever to hit the region, and resulted in major flooding on the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs and on Vallecito Creek, among other locations. #cowx

Flooding forces evacuations on Vallecito Creek in southern Colorado trib.al/vZNcTyB

Follow the ongoing rainstorm in southwestern Colorado with CoAgMET: already nearly an inch of rain today near Durango! #cowx coagmet.colostate.edu/maps/precip/...

Highly unusual situation approaching western Colorado with the moisture from Hurricane Priscilla. Grand Junction has never had precipitable water over an inch (25mm) so late in the year, but looks like it will be near that level on both Fri & Sat. Six standard deviations above average! #cowx 1/2

Most of Colorado's lower elevations haven't yet had a freeze this fall, but it'll get cold sooner or later. Here's our blog post from last year on when first freezes tend to happen across the state. #cowx

We hope you'll join us at the CSU Spur Campus in Denver on Oct 14 from 3-5pm! Our team will be talking about Colorado's climate and how it's changing. This event is free and open to the public, but be sure to register using the link below ⬇️

Happy New (Water) Year! 🥳 Today marks the first day of Water Year 2026. But what is a "water year" and why does it begin in October? Here's a short explainer! [1/7]

Only some of this precipitation was incorporated in this week's U.S. Drought Monitor (the weekly data cutoff is Tuesdays at 6am MDT). Nonetheless, we still saw some drought improvements throughout the state this week! 🌧️

Yesterday was the wettest day in quite some time for northeastern Colorado. Widespread observations of over 1" of rain, and over 2" in some spots on the Plains. Several inches of snow in the mountains too! Map from coagmet.colostate.edu #cowx

9/18 Drought Update 🌵: We saw more beneficial precipitation last week, which prompted widespread improvements in western and southern Colorado in this week's US Drought Monitor. Good news for now, but we'll need additional moisture to continue chipping away at those longer-term deficits.

August Recap ⏪: Hot, dry conditions intensified drought and fanned wildfires across western Colorado, but monsoon moisture finally delivered some much-needed precipitation at the end of the month. Just how significant was that rainfall? All that and more in our monthly climate summary! col.st/STpEm

Last week's sorely needed rain across western Colorado was enough to remove the D4 (exceptional) drought in the northwest. Still, though, 25% of the state is in D3 (extreme) drought, with very large precipitation deficits going back to the beginning of the year. #cowx climate.colostate.edu/drought/

“The biggest factor is the dry spring conditions and layered on top of them a much drier than normal summer,” said Peter Goble, assistant state climatologist. “We will be watching those base flows but also soil moisture levels as we go into fall and early winter to see if those pick back up.” #cowx

Monsoonal rains are dousing western Colorado wildfires. They also come with serious flood concerns.

Flash flooding possible today in Georgia and South Carolina. By Monday, chances for heavy rain increase for the southern Plains, and may linger into late in the week. Keep up with the forecast at weather.gov, and remember: Turn Around, Don't Drown when encountering flooded roadways.

Greetings from the Colorado Water Congress summer conference in beautiful (but dry) Steamboat Springs. We’re discussing our work with CoAgMET and especially the effort to improve soil moisture monitoring across Colorado!

Finally, a pattern change on the way for western Colorado! Model forecasts of precipitable water (total water vapor in the atmosphere) at Grand Junction show more hot and dry this week, but then some real moisture next wk. Too early to say how much rain or drought relief, but a welcome sight.🤞 #cowx

“Northwestern Colorado is the epicenter of drought in the whole country right now,” said Colorado’s state climatologist and the director of the Colorado Climate Center. “It’s about as bad as it gets.”

ICYMI: Parts of western Colorado are now experiencing exceptional drought. Curious how we got here and what we might expect in the coming weeks and months? Check out today's blog post ⬇️ col.st/j3EpX

Info for Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nevada 👇 "Dry thunderstorms will be the primary fire weather concern for today across the northeastern Great Basin, though warm, dry, and windy conditions will likely develop across parts of the Great Basin and northern Rockies." - NWS Forecast Discussion

The D4 (exceptional) category was added to this week's US Drought Monitor in northwest Colorado, amid a lack of spring and summer precipitation, fast-growing wildfires, and low streamflow. It's the first D4 in the state since January 2023, and the first D4 west of the divide since Oct 2021. #cowx

The Colorado Mesonet was recognized with the American Association of State Climatologists 30 Year Mesonet Award for contributing more than 30 years of quality weather records of Colorado. Way to go @climate.colostate.edu team! engr.source.colostate.edu/csu-colorado...

CoAgMET---the Colorado Agricultural Meteorological network, aka Colorado's Mesonet---was recently recognized for over 30 years of data collection. Read more about the award and the network in this story from CSU Source. Here's to 30 more years of valuable weather and climate information! #cowx

July seems like a long time ago, with everything happening with drought and wildfire in Colorado in the first part of August. But take a look back at how July conditions helped set the stage for the situation unfolding now, in our monthly state climate summary. #cowx

Thorough summary from Summit Daily of the worsening drought and wildfire situation on the western slope. #cowx

Latest update puts the Lee Fire at 58,714 acres, which puts it in the top 10 largest wildfires in Colorado records. It only started on Saturday (5 days ago). #cowx