The last weekend of June didn’t just sizzle — it erupted. As a powerful early‑summer trough carved into the Great Basin, the Southwest lit up with new fires and thick smoke thanks to some of the most volatile atmospheric conditions we’ve seen this season. Colorado wasn’t spared, either: several fast‑growing fires ignited across the Western Slope and Mountains, sending plumes straight into the Front Range. And with a stubborn dipole pattern locking in place across the nation, the week ahead promises more wind, more dryness, and more smoke — plus a few twists in the forecast you’ll want to keep an eye on. Let’s break down what’s driving this outbreak, what it means for the Boulder–Denver corridor, and when relief may finally arrive.
Category: Long-Range (Page 1 of 16)
May 2026 delivered a true roller‑coaster pattern along the Front Range. Despite finishing warmer than average, the month was punctuated by two significant chilly precipitation events that funneled a remarkable amount of moisture into Boulder and Larimer Counties. The first arrived as a damaging late‑season snowstorm, wrecking leafed‑out trees across the region, while the second system — fortunately — remained all rain at lower elevations.
Together, these systems provided meaningful drought relief, though the broader hydrological picture across Colorado and the West remains deeply strained. Here’s a graphical look at how May unfolded across Boulder, Denver, and the Front Range — and how it compared to climatology.
After a devastating spring snowstorm barely more than a week ago, a slow‑moving May storm parked itself over the northern Front Range, wringing out 1–2 inches of moisture and dropping a fresh blanket of wet snow in the Foothills — all without giving the lower elevations any freezing temperatures. For mid‑May, that’s about as friendly as a storm of this size gets. And with the larger‑scale trough refusing to budge, we’re not done yet: this week will feature more daily shower chances through Friday before drier, warmer weather returns just in time for the holiday weekend. Read on for all the details.
Colorado headlines have been buzzing about a looming “Super El Niño,” but the story behind the hype is far more layered than the headlines let on. Before leaning into the dramatic graphics and sweeping claims, it’s worth unpacking where this narrative actually came from and why one overzealous model run has taken on a life of its own. More importantly, we must consider what this all really means for our state as we limp into summer with record‑low snowpack, deepening drought, and a fire season that has already been sharpening its teeth. The truth is far more nuanced than the current online discourse suggests.
March 2026 delivered one of Colorado’s most jarring spring months on record with temperatures skyrocketing to unprecedented levels as the region shattered long‑standing warmth records for weeks on end. Western snowpack rapidly declined during this multi-week heatwave, reaching historic lows in a majority of basins across the West, including every major basin in Colorado. Brief interjections of snow occurred during the month across the Front Range, but most the state ended with well below normal precipitation. Here’s a quick and colorful graphical recap of our weather during March and how it relates to climatology.
Colorado may be easing into the week on a calm, cool note, but the atmosphere has no intention of staying quiet — and the shift ahead isn’t the one you might expect. While a major storm system pounds the eastern half of the country, a powerful ridge is quietly taking shape off the West Coast, ready to drive an exceptional, record‑shattering March heatwave straight into the Front Range. With gusty downslope winds on the way and the strong likelihood of multiple all‑time records falling, this week is all about the heat. How hot will it get and when will the heatwave end? Let’s take a look.
After Tuesday’s surprise temperature split and a sneaky round of overnight rain‑to‑snow, the Front Range is gearing up for a volatile stretch ahead defined by powerful downslope winds, repeated fire weather days, and a weekend cold front with a few snowflakes behind it. And beyond that? An unbelievably intense mid‑March heat wave that will rewrite the record books and kick off snowmelt across much of the West next week. Let’s get into the details.
Winter may be on the calendar, but it certainly hasn’t been in the air this year. As the West stumbles through one of its warmest, most lopsided cold seasons on record, the signs of a deeper shift are becoming impossible to ignore. From record‑breaking heat along the Front Range to a snowpack crisis unfolding across the entire West, this “winter” has rewritten the rules — and the ripple effects are only beginning to surface. We break down what happened this year, why it matters, and what this complete failure of a winter means for the months ahead.
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