Colorado Snowpack Hits Record Low Amid Early Melt

Water managers prepare for extremely dry summer as state wraps up winter with worst snowpack on record

Apr. 9, 2026 at 12:49am

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A sweeping, atmospheric landscape painting in muted tones of blue and grey, depicting a vast, frozen expanse with minimal physical structures dwarfed by the overwhelming power of the natural elements.As Colorado's snowpack reaches record lows, the looming threat of water scarcity casts a somber shadow over the state's vast, frozen landscapes.Aspen Today

Colorado has wrapped up the 2026 winter season with the worst snowpack on record for early April, as a March heatwave fueled an early peak and rapid melting of the snowpack. Water managers are now planning for an extremely dry summer, with forecasts showing record-low runoff and streamflows across the state, including the Yampa River basin which is expected to see flows close to the minimum on record.

Why it matters

The Colorado River basin provides water to 40 million people in the American Southwest, and the state's snowpack is the primary source of this water supply. With record-low snowpack levels, there are major concerns about water availability and potential water restrictions for municipalities, agriculture, and other users throughout the region.

The details

A March heatwave that broke statewide records led to an early peak and rapid melting of Colorado's snowpack, which was already thin to begin with. The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center reported the March 1 snowpack above Lake Powell at 52% of median, but by April 1 it had declined dramatically to just 23% of median. Snowpack in the Roaring Fork River basin is currently at 26% of normal, and the forecasted April through July inflow to Lake Powell is just 22% of normal - the third-worst on record.

  • The Colorado River basin snowpack typically peaks in early April, but this year it peaked nearly a month early on March 17.
  • March 2026 was the warmest March in 132 years of record-keeping for Colorado, with temperatures 3-4°F warmer than any previous March.

The players

Peter Goble

Assistant state climatologist at Colorado State University.

Raquel Flinker

Director of interstate and regional water resources at the Colorado River District.

Cody Moser

Hydrologist with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

Brian Romig

Yampa River Operations Coordinator for Division 6 Water Resources.

Erin Light

Division Engineer for Colorado's Division of Water Resources.

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What they’re saying

“Climate change definitely raises the probability of heat waves significantly. This heat wave was so far out of the range of what we've seen in March before that I don't expect this to be the new normal, but it was certainly made to some degree more likely by climate change.”

— Peter Goble, Assistant state climatologist

“We've never seen anything like this in memory. If there's anything in your memory about a dry year that you've seen, a warm year that you've seen, 2026 is beyond all of that. It's far beyond 2002, which has been the year we normally think of as the worst year in hydrology.”

— Raquel Flinker, Director of interstate and regional water resources

“This forecast declined by 40% in the past month and here you see that huge melt off with our snowpack conditions.”

— Cody Moser, Hydrologist

“Call administration is a reality of our future. I think it's very possible we are going to see calls and the sooner people start to understand what that looks like and become accustomed to it, the better.”

— Erin Light, Division Engineer

What’s next

Water managers will continue to closely monitor snowpack levels, streamflow forecasts, and reservoir storage in the coming months to determine the severity of water restrictions and allocations needed for the 2026 summer season.

The takeaway

This record-breaking low snowpack and early melt highlights the growing impacts of climate change on Colorado's water resources, raising serious concerns about water availability and the need for communities to adapt to a future with less water. As the state faces an extremely dry summer, water managers must work to educate users and implement conservation measures to manage the inevitable scarcity.