Colorado Snowpack Lowest Since 1941

Colorado's snowpack has reached its lowest levels since statewide records began in 1941, with accumulations peaking a month early and holding only half the typical moisture content, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture hydrologists. The findings, confirmed after field assessments concluded late Tuesday in the Rocky Mountains near the headwaters of the Colorado River, signal deepening water shortages amid an ongoing drought across the West.

The unusually warm winter brought poor conditions for skiing and transitioned into record-breaking spring heat, causing snow to melt rapidly from all but the highest elevations. Hydrologist Maureen Gutsch, with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, described the scene during a measurement in sunny, 56-degree Fahrenheit weather. "We love being out here. We love being in the snow, taking these measurements," she said. "This year, it's kind of hard to enjoy it because it's slightly depressing with the conditions that we've seen."

State climatologists now consider this the worst snowpack on record for early April, surpassing low-snow winters like 1976-77 and 1980-81, due to an extraordinary heat wave in late March. Temperatures...