Drought will likely continue to expand into early summer at least so we’re probably not at peak drought yet.

A better comparison would be the Drought Monitor from the same month for each year.

Very fitting

As the first reanalysis data become available, I think I can say with a fairly high degree of confidence that the March 2026 heatwave will go down as the most anomalously extreme heat event ever observed at any time of year in the southwestern U.S.

Our current heat wave is likely “the most anomalously extreme heat wave ever observed at any time of year in the southwestern U.S.”

I’d certainly echo that for Colorado, specifically.

Almost 50% fewer night below freezing compared to the previous record? That statistic is wild

7/5/24 Mora, NM, produced a ragged tornado about 15 minutes after this picture that only lasted 30 seconds

Official map from NOAA depicting the relative rank of winter 2025-2026 temperatures at a county level across the contiguous U.S. Many counties in the western and central U.S. are depicted in dark red color, signifying record-warmest winter. All other counties in the west and central U.S. are depicted in dark orange colors, signifying a "near record warm" rank.

The official NOAA stats out this week confirm that winter 2025-26 was the warmest on record across a huge portion of the western and central U.S., which has contributed to extremely low mountain snowpack & worsened the CO River crisis. Meanwhile, record March heat is in forecast.

December 2025 through February 2026 was the 2nd warmest winter on record for the Contiguous U.S. according to Prism climate data. The widespread record to near record warmth in the west easily outweighed the cool temps in the east. 🔥🔥🔥

lol

Barring something unexpected this week, Denver will finish with its second snow-less February on record. Other was in 2009.

Extra wild considering we’ve seen a notable uptick in February snowfall in recent years: 5 of our last 7 Februarys have had 10”+ of snow.

#COwx

Tornado west of Flat Rock IL yesterday. #ILwx

Ext ens have been consistently hinting at this for the past 2+ weeks. Cautiously optimistic.

Fantastic waterspout in front of Cetraro, Calabria. Photo by Albertina Pepe

It was even visible on satellite this morning!

Gotta love DIA snow/precip measurements...

✅ Boulder 1.4" of snow, 0.07" of liquid = 20:1 snow ratio

🤷‍♀️ Denver 1.7" of snow, 0.02" of liquid = 85:1 snow ratio

#COwx #Boulderwx

7th day at 60°+ this month, 25 of the last 36 days have been at 60°+ in Denver. This winter is stupid.

#COwx

Same with much of the southwestern US! Wow

To be fair, models have been locked on that Jan 8-11 storm for multiple days already.

Lenticular-ish KH wave spotted 12/24 near Nederland, CO

Snapshot of PDS Red Flag Warning from National Weather Service in Boulder, CO. The text begins: URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 508 PM MST Thu Dec 18 2025 ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR IN AND IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO THE FOOTHILLS, BETWEEN 5500 AND 9000 FEET, FOR BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES ON FRIDAY... Strong west winds, sustained 45-55 mph with gusts upwards of 85-105 mph, are expected in the foothills of Boulder and Jefferson Counties beginning early Friday morning. Relative humidity values are expected to drop into the low teens, possibly upper single digits. While Red Flag conditions, critical fire weather, are expected across a larger area in northern Colorado, the most extreme conditions are expected to be along Highway 93 from Jefferson County into Boulder County and along US-36 north of Boulder to the Larimer County line and westward. There will be a high potential for fast moving wildfires...

NWS in Boulder, CO has just issued a rare "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) Red Flag Warning for extreme fire weather risk on Friday. Historically, PDS RFW issuances (including in California) have pinpointed days on which the most dangerous wildfires have occurred. #COwx

Officially our 6th-straight day at 60°+ in Denver.

We’ll tie our longest 60°+ December streak tomorrow, and break it on Tuesday.

#COwx

Never, ever gets old

What are some good sources of discussion on current oscillations/teleconnections and their forecast progression? Particularly for western US weather. CPC prognostic discussions sometimes cover these. The ENSO blog is no longer active. Any others?

Can you find the climatological anomaly on this map 😂

Has Cheyenne been issuing WWA for small, sub-county zones like this for a while? I was impressed when the Chicago office split up Cook County into three zones 😂

Albuquerque had consistent and overall above average dew points almost all monsoon season. Despite that, we ended up 1.41" below average with 3.07" of rain this year. The 32nd driest monsoon on record of 134 years. It was also the 5th warmest.

☔️ It's Denver's wettest day in over 2 years! ☔️

1.21" of rain at Central Park = wettest day there since July 5, 2023 (811 days).

#COwx

Tornado near Pleaant View, Colorado this afternoon…near the Utah/Colorado line in southwestern Colorado!

📸: Landan Wilson

Fresh snow just above Telluride this morning!

Looks like it got down to about 11k feet!

#COwx