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Colorado Has Nearly 75% Of Annual Snowpack And It's Only January

By Chris Spears

DENVER (CBS4) - Talk about an amazing comeback!

With nearly half of the snow accumulation season still to go, Colorado has already received about 75 percent of its annual statewide snowpack.

"Colorado went from one of the lowest levels of snowpack in over 30 years to one of the highest since Nov. 17," said Brian Domonkos, Colorado Snow Survey Supervisor.

Crested Butte ski patrollers do avalanche mitigation before lifts open on the mountain in Crested Butte, Colorado.
Crested Butte ski patroller Eric Mercer Baumm throws a 2 pound avalanche bomb into the deep powder in the Headwall area of Crested Butte Mountain Resort as he and other patrollers do avalanche mitigation before lifts open on the mountain on January 12, 2017. Crested Butte has been inundated with more than 100 inches of snow in the past 10 days and patrollers take great precaution to keep runs safe before opening them up to the public. More snow is expected in the upcoming days. (credit: Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Despite being in a weak La Niña winter, which can sometimes steer the main storm track away from the central Rockies, a persistent jet stream has brought a parade of storms to the state in recent weeks, each one with large amounts of moisture from the Pacific Ocean.

More snow is in the forecast later this week for the mountains as another unsettled weather pattern takes shape.

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The latest 90-day outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center calls for no significant trend in temperature or precipitation across Colorado, which basically means anything is possible.

La Niña is expected to end by spring.

Meteorologist Chris Spears writes about stories related to weather and climate in Colorado. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.

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