Amidst another long stretch of high fire danger, dry and windy weather seems to be the new norm this spring for Southern Colorado.
All across the Front Range, snow came late this season and wrapped up early.
From DIA to the Pikes Peak Region to Pueblo, the 2021-22 season will go down as the shortest one on record.
From first snow to last, it was an 81 day season for COS, and a 100 day season for PUB.
Both airports failed to record any measurable snowfall until mid to late December.
In Colorado Springs, the 0.4" of snow that fell on New Year's Eve goes down on record as the latest first snowfall of the season.
On top of the late start, both airports saw their last measurable snowfall in March, almost a month earlier than average.
Records have been kept at COS since the 1947-48 season, and at PUB since the 1953-54 season.
Prior to the 2021-22 season, the record in Colorado Springs stood at 117 days, and was held for nearly 60 years.
The other two shortest seasons in the top-3 are from much more recent times...this century!
In Pueblo, all three records seen here are from the 2000s...only dating back as far as the 2005-06 season, a possible indicator of our changing climate.
In terms of seasonal snowfall, it's not surprising that we came up short in that department as well.
Only about 23" of snow fell this past season at COS, a departure of nearly 10" from the 30-year average.
Pueblo's seasonal total of 22.6" also coming up short of our 28.3" average.
A lack of snowfall this season and a dry start to our spring rainy season also contributing to ongoing drought conditions, sparking concerns for a dangerous mountain wildfire season ahead.
