After months of a snow drought, the forecast calls for snow up to two feet in the highest elevations of the Colorado Rockies as May begins.
Water restrictions growing across West as drought fears rise
Western communities face a dangerously dry summer as record heat melts snow, threatening drinking water and increasing wildfire risk.
The forecast calls for late-April and early May snowfalls in parts of Colorado, Montana and Wyoming, but it won’t fix the notable lack of snow that has been plaguing the Colorado Rockies.
The snow over the next few days could total up to two feet in the highest elevations of the Colorado Rockies, according to a forecast from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. Lesser amounts are forecast for the mountains of Wyoming and Montana. “This is a classic setup for mountain snow … in a region that could sorely use any precipitation of note,” the WPC said in a forecast.
How bad has it been? “The snowpack during the 2025-2026 [season] in Colorado was near or at a record low for most locations in the state and at most times during the winter,” said meteorologist Joel Gratz of OpenSnow, a website devoted to Colorado snowfall. “This snow will help a little bit (every flake and drop helps) but it will not break the drought,” he told USA TODAY via email.
Drought expert Brian Fuchs of the National Drought Mitigation Center agreed: “Depending on where you are in Colorado, this is one of the worst snow seasons on record with some locations actually recording their least amount of snow for the season.”
“The snow drought and drought in general are very serious,” AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines told USA TODAY via email. “The northwest part of Colorado is in an exceptional drought, which is the most serious category. Parts of Colorado haven’t had consecutive months of above-normal precipitation since 2024.”
Is this late-season snow unusual?
Additional snow could be 6-24 inches between April 28 – May 7, Gratz said. “Late-season snow is not unusual – Colorado’s mountains often see significant snowfall through at least mid-May.”
However, Fuchs said “It is hard to see lasting/accumulating snow this time of year (due to temperatures being warmer) so we don’t plan on much snow being added to the seasonal totals for those highest peaks (of Colorado.)”
Kines said that “while every little bit helps, the snow and precipitation over the next couple of weeks won’t offer a lot of help. It will help some in the short term but won’t even come close to ending the long-term drought.”
Are most ski areas closed now?
“Yes, most ski areas are closed,” Gratz said. “Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain are still open and plan to close on Sunday, May 3. Often, Arapahoe Basin stays open into June, but not this season.”
Lack of snow means ‘less water in storage’
Gratz said that snow is another form of water storage, and much of the western United States is generally an arid climate, where every drop and flake helps. “A lack of water impacts many aspects of life,” he said.
Fuchs explained that “the snow accumulation is the ‘banked’ moisture that is utilized later in the summer. As we are seeing now, much of the snow is already melted out and there will not be a summer surge of water into rivers/streams/lakes/reservoirs.”
He said this means less water will be available for plants, animals, humans and agriculture later on this summer. Fuchs noted that those who provide irrigation water are already alerting customers to a reduced delivery. “It also means that we will see less water in storage, moving forward, and that could lead to more water restrictions.”
Is there hope for precipitation this summer?
Gratz added a hopeful note: “The building El Niño could create wetter-than-average conditions for some areas this spring, summer, and fall, so perhaps the atmosphere will now work to get us out of the drought that it created.”
Kines agreed, noting that “there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The weather pattern during late June and July could offer several rounds of thunderstorms, which would be very beneficial.”
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