Colorado Has Simultaneous Flood And Drought Worries

There has been heavy snow in the mountains, and plenty of rainfall in the central and northern areas of Colorado the last couple of weeks and with the prediction of significant rainfall in the Front Range today again, according to KWGN Denver, it makes the extreme drought conditions in the southeast parts of the state all the more baffling.

In statements made by National Drought Mitigation climatologist, Mark Svoboda to The Denver Post, about 30 percent of Colorado is experiencing severe drought conditions and 7 percent experiencing extreme drought conditions.

And although snowpack levels are way above average in the state mountains, 247 percent above the norm, this moisture, even after melting this summer, will not affect the southeasterly ranchers and pasture lands in the state, according to The Denver Post

These two simultaneous extremes are largely blamed on La Nina weather conditions, according to an AP/8NewsNow report. And you don't have to just compare regions of the state that are quite distant from one another like the southeast plains and the northwest mountains. Just take Denver and Loveland Ski Area, only 75 miles apart, but Denver has had the second-lowest amount of snow in history, with only approximately 22 inches this season. However, Loveland has broken its snowfall record for a single season this year with 572 inches.