May of 2021 was the last time Denver saw more moisture than average within a month. June through December provided less than normal precipitation and in more months than not, we didn’t even get a fraction of the amount of moisture we should have.
With facts like that, it’s no wonder we had slipped back into widespread drought and battled a winter wildfire. Between July and December, Denver should have received 7.05-inches of precipitation. The city only reported 1.2-inches of precipitation during that time – a sixth of what should have occurred.
Things haven’t quite turned around yet though but we at least have officially ended our streak of months with below average moisture. January came in with a bang as snow was falling from New Years Eve to New Years Day. Just a few days later, another round of snow brought a decent amount of moisture with it. After a bit of a lull in the middle of the month, we snagged another round of snow which gave us enough moisture to surpass what is typically expected for the entire month.
It has been exceptionally dry across Denver since last June. After a very wet Spring, Summer quickly came with dry weather and that dry weather stayed put through the end of the year. Notably, June through December was the driest last 6-months of the year on record. June, July and August are some of our wettest months of the year but the recent June through August stretch was anything but wet.
October and November provided Denver with hardly anything mesurable. Each month, less than a tenth of an inch of moisture fell. For the entire month! That is extremely dry conditions to endure and to have this kind of dryness embedded within a larger scale period of dry times only exacerbated our growing and deepening drought.
Through December, our dry woes continued with below-normal precipitation falling for the month. Thanks to a New Years Eve snow storm, we ended December with almost half of the normal precipitation that is expected but that snow storm is what kicked off January on a good note.
As you know, our snow season started off very slow. We have yet to catch up from the deficit that grew from September to December but similarly to the precipitation during this month, snowfall has no exceeded the normal amount for the month. Tuesday’s snow storm gave Denver at least 5-inches of snow which bumps our monthly total up to 10.6-inches. Just over 4-inches more than what normally falls this month.
Hopefully January is the turning point rather than a random happenstance within this drought. Time will tell but at least we are talking more about moisture right now than not. On that note, another round of snow, less than an inch, is expected Thursday which will boost January’s number just a bit more. Our next storm looks to come in early February and could be a decent storm similar to today’s and that would kick off February on a good note.
Leave a Reply