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Despite Stormy February, Snowpack Lagging Behind In Southwest Colorado

DENVER (CBS4) - February 2020 will be remembered by many as being cold and snowy. In Denver it snowed at the airport on 16 of the 29 days and temperatures averaged several degrees below normal most of the time.

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(credit: CBS)

In the mountains the bulk of February's snow fell across the northern half of the state because of how the jet stream was positioned, which highly favored mountain locations along and north of Interstate 70. Some of the largest snow totals were recorded between the highest peaks around Steamboat Springs to the mountains of Summit County.

While it did snow in southwest Colorado the storms weren't as plentiful and it shows in the latest snowpack numbers released on March 3. All three of the major river basins are running below where they should be for this time of year.

But here's the good news! The deficit isn't huge, and March and April tend to produce some of the state's largest and wettest snowstorms in Colorado's high country. Keep your fingers crossed that we see the storm track return with enough moisture to continue building statewide snowpack, especially in areas lagging behind.

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