The NOAA NWS Climate Prediction Center has released its monthly report on the weather. It has both good and bad news for Colorado as we move into Spring. First, the outlook looks at the next 30 days. Next, it looks at the next 90 days, which covers April, May, and June.
The new study tells us what the weather will be like in terms of temperature and rain over the next few months. According to the new drought monitor released this week, western and southwest Colorado are still in a dry to mild drought, and the weather forecast for that area doesn’t look good.
About two-thirds of the state has an equal or usual chance of average temperatures in the next 30 days, which is April. That’s not bad for those places in the spring. But a large part of south and southwest Colorado looks slightly above average, meaning that area might have a hot spring.
Then we look at what the rain and snow forecast for April is. It would be good to be at or above average. This time, though, most of the central and southwestern parts of the state look like they will not get any rain. For the month, those spots are a little less wet or dry than usual. Keep in mind that the drought watch still says that the area is dry to moderate. Most of the rest of Colorado looks normal or average, with the northeast corner slightly above normal. That’s good for the water there.
Now we’ll talk about the 90-day or three-month climate run that starts in June. The forecast for temperatures says that most of the state will be hotter than usual in the west, center, and south.
The average west and south will be hotter, and there will be an equal chance of normal precipitation. This could still be fine if the trend of precipitation is normal since April, May, and June are usually good months for moisture in those areas this time of year.
The Front Range and the northeastern part of the state, which includes the Denver Metro Area, will get a lot of rain this spring. Although it rained a little more than usual in these areas.