John McGinley, Peak to Peak. April 2020: The upper level flow had a persistent trough over the western US which allowed disturbances to impact Colorado with some heavy snow. From April 12 - 17 a series of strong storms moved in and dropped nearly three feet of snow over the area. After this event the upper level trough shifted to the east resulting in minimal precipitation. Our snow total for the season has now reached 182.5 inches almost 30 inches more than the 156 inch we get in a normal year. We still have May that might add a few more inches. For the record we had over 200 inches of seasonal snow in 1994-95, 1995-96, and 1996-97 with 242 inches in 94-95.

Precipitation: Snow totaled 39 inches; nine inches above normal. This melted out to 2.53 inches of liquid. The big event was the 17.5 inches on April 16, 2020.

Temperature: Very close to normal with an average high of 48F and an average low of 26F. The cold first half of the month was balanced by some very warm days in the final week.  Highest high was 72F on the 30th. Lowest high was 17F on the 13th. Lowest low was 3F on the 17th.

Winds:  April had a normal number of windy days (7) and no days over 60mph. 

Other Features: A large trough over the west brought a series of storms that generated most of our monthly snow. This feature weakened in the last half of the month.

Outlook for May:  In May we see a big warm up and fewer chances for snow. Average high is 59F with an average low of 33F. We see 2.37 inches of precipitation with 11 inches of snow. We typically only see two windy days (40+mph). The long range models indicate chances of showers on May 4 - 6 with a polar surge on the 8th - might see some snowflakes, More showers likely on the 12th. A big storm could leave lots of precipitation and even some heavy wet snow on the 17th and 18th. Overall looks like typical May weather in temperature and precipitation.

(Originally published in the May 7, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear. Social Distance snow photo by Alan Apt.)