The odds of a white Christmas along Colorado’s Front Range aren’t looking good.
The region has experienced a string of warm and dry weather in the days leading up to the holiday. A storm system could bring rain to Metro Denver by Christmas afternoon or evening. Any chance of snow, however, is steadily diminishing, said David Barjenbruch, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service.
“If you're looking for a white Christmas, you have to go to the mountains."
— David Barjenbruch, National Weather Service senior forecaster
“The storm doesn’t look like it is packing much of a punch,” Barjenbruch told CPR News.
It’s a different story in Colorado’s high country. State Climatologist Russ Schumacher said in an email that if you can make it to the mountains, “you’re in luck” since “Colorado’s high elevations are a sure bet for a white Christmas,” at least according to the common definition of at least an inch of snow already on the ground.
Without more precipitation in the forecast, the region appears set to experience one of its hottest and driest Decembers on record. Barjenbruch said Denver has received just a dusting of snow during the final month of the year, and temperatures have been roughly nine degrees above average.
The Front Range hasn’t experienced a snowstorm on Christmas since 2015, but Barjenbruch noted a storm ahead of the holiday in 2022 brought enough snow to let residents experience a “white Christmas.”
While the recent weather has helped travelers reach their destinations, it hasn’t helped with Colorado’s ongoing drought. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor update, released Dec. 19, shows most of the northern Front Range is currently experiencing a “moderate” or “severe” drought. A smaller area straddling the border between Larimer County and Weld County is now experiencing an “extreme” drought.
Colorado’s mountain snowpack has also suffered due to the dry weather. As of Dec. 23, the median snowpack statewide fell to 85 percent, according to the National Weather and Climate Center. It’s a turnaround from earlier in the year when those levels were higher than normal due to a wetter November in Colorado’s high country.
There are signs that the dry, warm conditions are affecting tourism on the Western Slope: Yesterday, organizers of the Meeker Skijor event canceled the Jan. 3-5 event due to a lack of snow.
It appears the dry weather won’t last forever, though. Barjenbruch said models suggest colder and snowier conditions will likely arrive in early January.
