COLORADO SPRINGS — Thanks to a blanket of fresh snowfall last week, 2021 has gotten off to a solid start for Southern Colorado, but we need more!
February is typically one of our snowiest months, and that's a good thing considering our state's ongoing drought.
Current drought conditions continue to show areas of Extreme Drought over a large part of El Paso and Teller counties.
Northern sections of El Paso County, as well as parts of Jefferson, Douglas and Elbert counties fall into the Exceptional Drought category.
In Pueblo County, there's a mix of Extreme, Severe and Moderate Drought, with lesser drought conditions noted across the Wet Mountains, northern Sangres and the San Luis Valley.
When it comes to February, we rely on frequent mountain snows to help build up the snowpack across the higher elevations.
For the Plains, we can expect some snowfall, but when it comes down to it, February typically doesn't provide us with that much moisture.
In Colorado Springs, February is chilly, and is on average our 3rd coldest month of the year.
With an average snowfall of 4.9", it's tied with April for the 4th snowiest month in the year.
Even though February can be quite snowy in the Springs, it's also considered one of our driest months.
Like Colorado Springs, February is on average the 3rd coldest month of the year for Pueblo.
Snowfall in February is typically pretty light, sandwiched between our snowiest months of the year, which are January and March.
It's also usually the driest month of the year, with only 0.30" of precipitation occurring, mostly from melting snow.
The revised outlook from the Climate Prediction Center shows a chance of above average precipitation this month for northern parts of state, and near normal conditions for Southern Colorado.
Outlooks during La Nina winters trend to be on the dry side so it's nice to see a shift in that dynamic this month.
Of course, we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
