Staging version updated 12/5/2023

An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder

Map: Winter photo galleries

Use this interactive map to browse our collection of free-to-use photos and videos.

Scientists use simple cameras to answer complex questions about forests and the snowpack

“Snowtography” captures how the snowpack can vary dramatically across short distances

Epic snow from all those atmospheric rivers in the West is starting to melt,...

A meteorologist explains how 2023’s storms compare to past extremes and what to expect in the future.
The Roaring Fork River seen here on May 24 near the Catherine Store Bridge in Carbondale. Downstream at Glenwood Springs, the river peaked for the season on May 20, early and outside the window of what’s considered normal. CREDIT: HEATHER SACKETT/ASPEN JOURNALISM

Early peak runoff for Western Slope rivers

Snowpack in Colorado is melting earlier than expected due to an increase in dust storm severity.
The Roaring Fork River joins with the Colorado River in downtown Glenwood Springs photo

Spring runoff forecast looks better than last two years

Colorado’s predictions for spring runoff are looking better than the past two years, but streamflows are still expected to be below normal.
Blue Mesa Reservoir photo

La Niña likely to continue, intensifying drought, wildfires; snowpack hits 91% of average

Colorado's drought may continue into the fall, bringing a third year of below-average snowpack and streamflows and high wildfire danger.

Snow can disappear straight into the atmosphere in hot, dry weather

Scientists are exploring how droughts can lead to chronically dry soil that sucks up more water than normal in the American West.
Senator Beck Basin photo

New dust-on-snow monitoring technology coming to Steamboat lab, expanding a growing snowpack data network

Technology to study the impact of dust on downwind mountain ecosystems in Colorado and Utah will likely be installed in the Rockies this fall.

Program expanding to map Colorado mountain snowpack

Front Range water providers hope to expand a program that uses a new technology they say will revolutionize water management in Colorado.
precipitation map ecowest

Map: monthly average precipitation

This map shows total rain and snowfall in the contiguous United States, every month from 1981 to the present. The map's color scale runs from white (no precipitation), to blue (significant precipitation) to red (intense...