McPhee Reservoir in southwest Colorado is getting is fourth lowest runoff on record.
Author: Cory Reppenhagen
Updated: 10:33 PM MDT May 11, 2021
DURANGO, Colo. — It was another big day of rain and snow on the Colorado Front Range Monday.
The weather station at Denver International Airport has now recorded 8.02 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1 — that's nearly double the 4.46 inches at that spot at this point in 2020.
Mother Nature has not been as kind to the Western Slope.
Durango La Plata Airport has only received 2.56 inches of precipitation so far in 2021. The average there is 4.36 inches through May.
The snowpack in the southwest part of the country was very low this season from October through May — a typical result of a La Nina weather pattern. Colorado was mostly spared the major snow deficit thanks to some well-placed upslope storms east of the Continental Divide, but the southwest corner of the state did get caught up in the lack of snow.