In just two days, significant snow accumulations formed in Colorado.
Between Thursday and Friday, before the precipitation gradually stopped, this state in the western United States suffered a late winter snowstorm with locally up to 1.2 m of powder snow.
The Washington Post specifies that this is the heaviest precipitation of its kind in three years.
In the area of Denver, the capital of Colorado, located at around 1,500 m above sea level, around 60 cm of snow fell.
It was on the heights that the precipitation was the heaviest.
Colorado Springs recorded its largest 24-hour snow total since the late 1990s.
@weatherchannel
A late-winter snowstorm pounded central Colorado, with some locations getting more than 4 feet of snow.
#TheWeatherChannel #fyp #weathertok #weatherchannel #snow #Colorado #storm #winter
♬ original sound - The Weather Channel
Faced with such conditions, many schools and businesses have had to keep their doors closed.
Major power outages also occurred, affecting several tens of thousands of homes.
Roads were closed and hundreds of flights had to be canceled.
A cold season with little water
This event, however, is an opportunity to once again make the distinction between weather and climate.
Despite this historic snowfall, this is a one-off weather event.
By taking a longer time scale, that of the entire cold season, the trend towards global warming is felt in the figures.
Since the end of 2023, in the Rocky Mountains, the total snowfall remains below average, even taking into account this week's heavy precipitation.
Finally, the contrast is striking with the situation a few hundred kilometers further south of the country.
In Texas, major fires have already occurred since the end of February.
This week, the region was on alert due to the high temperatures already prevailing there and the high risk of new fires.