Snow Drought Is Putting Colorado River Water at Risk

If you work in mountain towns, you can feel it already. Resorts need cold nights, and this winter has been stuck in warm mode across much of the West. In Park City, Utah, tour operators say customers are canceling because there is not enough snow at lower elevations.

According to CNN climate reporter Andrew Freedman, station data in the Rockies shows snowpack running at record low to near record low levels for early January. Colorado’s state climatologist Russ Schumacher said December in Fort Collins felt more like March. Utah’s assistant state climatologist Jon Meyer warned that years like this could become more common, which is a scary preview for the 2034 Winter Olympics in the Salt Lake City region.

The bigger worry comes after the lifts close. The Rocky Mountain snowpack is the region’s savings account. It melts slowly in spring, then feeds taps, farms, and rivers during the dry season. When storms arrive as rain instead, that storage shrinks. That leaves the Colorado River system more stressed just as states argue over who cuts back and by how much.

Less snow also sets up a rough summer for forests and communities. Dry ground and earlier runoff can push fire season closer to spring. Smoke harms public health, and it also disrupts fragile habitat for wildlife that depend on steady water and cooler temperatures. Even pets can struggle when heat and smoke linger for days.

There is still time for the pattern to flip. But it would take weeks of colder storms to dig out of the hole. Meanwhile, this is a loud reminder that climate action is not abstract. It is local jobs, water security, and the environment we share on Earth.

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