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.
May 2026 Temperatures:
May 2026 Precipitation:
With over 3″ of precipitation in May, Boulder has ended our current streak of months with less than 1″ of precipitation, landing one shy of the century-old record:
Precipitation totals during May 2026 across the Boulder-Denver Metro area
May 2026 Snowfall:
Snowfall totals during May 2026 across the Boulder-Denver Metro area
2025-26 Seasonal Snowfall Totals (Final):
You can find a recap of all the winter storms from the 2025-2026 snow season HERE.
How does May 2026 fit into the last 75 years?
How does May 2026 fit into the last 12 months?
NOTE: May 2026 and September 2025 almost perfectly overlap in this graphic.
Drought Update
Colorado remains deeply entrenched in drought.
The soggy month of May has helped the situation, though, with much of the state seeing some drought improvement. Boulder and Denver both saw one class of improvement (from Extreme to Severe) over the last five weeks.
Latest Mountain Snowpack
Colorado is at 13% of normal right now, a decline from the 25% it was on May 7, 2026. This is the 3rd lowest June 3rd snowpack on record for the state dating back to 1987 (only worsted by 2002 and 2012).
The broader West is also in very rough shape for remaining snowpack.
May 2026 retold via our Twitter X timeline:
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