Temperatures in Colorado will drop drastically as a weekend blast of arctic air spreads across much of the country.
It’s welcome news for the state. Last month, Colorado had its warmest December in recorded history, according to the Colorado Climate Center. Snowfall in the Rocky Mountains is also dangerously low.
“It’s awful. It’s truly awful,” said Colorado State University water and climate research scientist Brad Udall. “I just looked at all the snow reporting stations above Lake Powell, and they’re vying with the lowest ever snowpack — and every day that we don’t get snow means the outcome looks worse.”
From Wyoming to Southern California, 40 million people depend on winter snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. When the snow melts in the spring, it fills reservoirs along the Colorado River.
But decades of drought and overuse have brought the river to the brink of collapse.
Udall said this winter could be terrible for the two largest reservoirs in the country. He predicts Lake Mead will hit historic lows come summer — and there may not be enough water in Lake Powell by October to produce hydropower at Glen Canyon Dam.
This puts even more pressure on the seven states that use the river, Udall said. They’re engaged in tense negotiations over how to share the dwindling water supply.
“We’re looking at climate change here, front and center. With these warm temperatures, there’s just no getting around it. This is our future,” Udall said. “This is going to impact all of us, and not in a good way.”
The lousy winter is already hurting the local economy.
Last week, Vail Resorts reported 20% fewer skiers visited its mountains so far this season compared to last. The company blamed a drop in revenue on the worst early winter snowfall in more than three decades.
Some resorts are considering significant changes as a result of the long-term forecasts for warmer winters.
“We’re one of the few resorts left that does not make snow. So we are all-natural snowfall, which is really an awesome differentiator for us,” said Chris Haggerty, general manager of Colorado’s Monarch Mountain. “In a low-pack snowfall year, that also can be really stressful.”
As conditions change, Haggerty said the resort has put artificial snow into its long-term plan.
“It is only in there as an emergency, if we absolutely ever have to do that,” he added. “One season isn’t going to dictate that.”
Colorado is on the Western edge of this weekend’s winter storm, but researchers say one arctic blast won’t be enough to turn the winter around.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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