We really needed the moisture we saw this past weekend, and it meaningfully improved our moisture status. It reduced our fire danger, and we've got more April showers on the way.
Here's a map of how much liquid water fell from this past snowstorm. These are radar estimates, but they match up reasonably with surface measurements. The main takeaway is that this snow had a lot of moisture, with many spots picking up an inch or more of liquid.
Here's what that did for our moisture debt. This map shows our 30-day precipitation debt Friday afternoon. Focus on the upper Arkansas River Valley on this map.
Here's the same map Saturday afternoon. So, yes, we're still short of normal precipitation for the last 30 days, but the amount is much lower.
Worth noting - this map uses a rolling 30 day average, and it updates once per day. So, the Friday map includes some precipitation that had already fallen, and Saturday's map doesn't reflect 100% of the moisture we picked up. However, both maps do a decent job of approximating the spatial extent of abnormal dryness, and the relative changes by region.
Also worth noting: April typically begins the wet season in southern Colorado. So Colorado Springs is currently about a half inch below normal for precipitation year to date despite the recent storm.
The same is true in Pueblo. At the airport, a bit over one and a half inches on the year against a normal of around two and a half inches on today's date.
Of course, the month isn't over. This week has very good odds for more beneficial moisture to close the gap. Plus, the Climate Prediction Center's eight to fourteen-day outlook suggests above average precipitation is likely at the end of the month into the start of May.
We've had more red flag days than usual this year so far because of how dry, warm, and windy we've been. Between the weekend snow and this week's rain, we're likely to see green-up conditions speeding up. And this is ultimately good news for lowering fire risks heading into May. The medium and long-range forecasts remain dry and warm, so we'll take all we can get!
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