DENVER (KDVR) — April is historically Denver’s second snowiest month of the year. However, this year the metro only picked up a little more than 2 inches of snowfall, a quarter of the normal amount.
In an average year, the Denver area will see its snowiest months in March and April, picking up 11.5 inches in March and 8.8 inches of snowfall in April. This year though, March and April have brought in much less snow than normal.
March in Denver wrapped up with 5.1 inches of snowfall, which is less than half of the typical 11.5 inches. As of April 27, Denver has only picked up 2.2 inches of snowfall, a quarter of the normal 8.8 inches.
For the entire 2022-23 season, Denver has seen 48.2 inches of snowfall, which follows the recent theme of being below normal. By the end of April, the Denver area on a normal year will accumulate 55.2 inches of snow.
So, where has the snowfall been? Mostly in higher elevations. April 27’s updated snowpack map shows that the state of Colorado is sitting at 141% of normal. Right now, the Arkansas River Basin is one of the few areas below normal at 84% of normal.
By contrast, in the southwest corner of the state, the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basin (represented as “San Juan” on the map) is at almost 200% of normal.
The high snowpack continues to be good news for the western part of the state. A new drought monitor was released on April 27 and shows that the western half of Colorado is not experiencing dry conditions.
However, the same update showed that it is a different story to the southeast. Pueblo, for example, remains in extreme drought.