Snowpack

An updated winter forecast from November shows that La Niña conditions continue to emerge, shifting from the -0.4ºC sea surface temperature anomaly recorded in part of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific in September — just shy of the -0.5ºC threshold needed to reach La Niña — to anomalies between -0.5ºC and -1.0ºC, according to the OpenSnow report.

As blazes expand to higher elevations, the impacts cascade downstream.

Warmer temperatures in November meant that less snowpack accumulated. But storms did increase soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin, making future precipitation more likely to run off slopesides and boost rivers and streams.

It's been a quiet fall across Colorado with little to no moisture in many places. That could soon change with increased chances of winter weather.

A healthy stream of snowstorms starting in late-October helped build and maintain snowpack levels above the historic average until mid-April, when unseasonably warm weather and a lack of storms caused the snowpack to deplete and drop below normal ahead of the date when levels typically peak.

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Drought conditions in the Rocky Mountains could further lower water levels at Lake Powell.

Utah is using a technology that can add more water to the state's supply. Others in the Colorado River basin are looking to expand.

Snowpack levels in Summit County remain above normal, outpacing the past five seasons.

Water experts say cloud seeding deserves more funding and research to measure its impact on the drought-stricken Colorado River basin.