{"id":1272,"date":"2026-10-22T16:04:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T16:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2026-10-22T16:04:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T16:04:58","slug":"top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/10\/22\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Top-5 Takeaways from Water Year 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, we released our Water Year 2026 report (available as an <a href=\"https:\/\/col.st\/aenlo\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/col.st\/aenlo\">ArcGIS Storymap<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/reports\/WY2026_summary_final_web.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/reports\/WY2026_summary_final_web.pdf\">PDF<\/a>), and it&#8217;s one we won&#8217;t be forgetting about anytime soon. Record-warm temperatures were a key theme of the last 12 months, though there are plenty of other items worth remembering: from snowpack (or lack thereof) to drought and wildfires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here, we summarize five characteristics about Water Year 2026 that stood out to our team, and we encourage you to check out the full summary for much more!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"496\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-1024x496.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-1024x496-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-300x145.png 300w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-768x372.png 768w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-1536x744.png 1536w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cag_wy2026-2048x992.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Water Year 2026 at a glance. The top graph shows statewide WY2026 daily average temperatures compared to the 1991-2020 average. The second row shows monthly temperature anomalies and rankings for WY2026. The graph below that and the final row of panels shows the same as the two aforementioned rows, but for precipitation. Data from nClimGrid.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. It was the warmest water year on record&#8230; by a lot.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Water Year 2026 had a number of temperature superlatives, and we&#8217;ll begin with an impressive list of statewide records. Considering data since 1895, Water Year 2026 featured the:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Warmest December<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest February<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest March<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest August<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest winter<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest spring<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Warmest summer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Statewide average temperatures for the 2026 Water Year were 4.5\u00b0F above the 1991-2020 average and over 2\u00b0F above the previous warmest water year on record (1934). Some of Colorado&#8217;s lower elevations set their new record water year-average temperature by an even wider margin: <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"988\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WY2026temps_vsprevious-1024x988.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1274\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.0364315859053237;width:538px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WY2026temps_vsprevious-1024x988-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WY2026temps_vsprevious-300x290.png 300w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WY2026temps_vsprevious-768x741.png 768w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WY2026temps_vsprevious.png 1347w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Temperature difference between Water Year 2026 and the previous warmest water year on record. Records date back to 1895. Data from nClimGrid.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Individual days throughout the water year were consistently warm. Statewide, 286 of our days (equating nearly 9.5 months!) were above average, meaning only 79 days were below average. 75 days (~2.5 months) were at least 10\u00b0F warmer than average, while only 13 days were at least 10\u00b0F below average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New temperature records set in Water Year 2026 also leaned substantially warm rather than cool. Warm records (record highs and record warm lows) outweighed cool records (record lows and record cool highs) by <strong>~21:1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Colorado saw its lowest mountain snowpack on record.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Warm temperatures were a key contributor to our low mountain snowpack this year. Statewide, snowpack peaked at only ~51% of average, surpassing other well-known bad snow years (1977, 1981, 2002 and 2012). The snow drought was consistent across all of Colorado&#8217;s major river basins. According to snow course data (manual snow measurements), 60 of Colorado&#8217;s 64 sites with 50+ year records reported record-low snow water equivalent on April 1 (see map below). Though snowpack typically reaches its maximum in early April, most locations were already past peak, as ridiculously warm March temperatures (more on that below) began chipping away at our supply. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"876\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-876x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1278\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.8554788198975207;width:567px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-876x1024.png 876w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-257x300.png 257w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-768x897.png 768w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-1315x1536.png 1315w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map-1024x1196.png 1024w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/snowcourse_map.png 1491w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Year with the lowest snow water equivalent on April 1, for snow course sites with at least 50 years of data. Data from NRCS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Warm temperatures, lack of precipitation, and low snowpack fostered widespread drought and limited our water supply.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the winter was even over, concerns quickly grew about what the low snowpack would mean for water supply and drought. In addition to being absurdly warm, March was the 3rd-driest on record statewide, and April brought additional major precipitation deficits to eastern Colorado. Unsurprisingly, drought conditions quickly deteriorated as a result. By the end of April, more than half of the state was seeing extreme or exceptional drought (the two most severe categories of drought in the USDM).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"709\" height=\"548\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/april2026usdm.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1276\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.2938039976048588;width:709px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/april2026usdm.png 709w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/april2026usdm-300x232.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>US Drought Monitor for Colorado valid April 28, 2026. At this point in the water year, ~59% of the state was experiencing extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Data produced by USDA\/NDMC\/NOAA\/NASA.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Record-low snowpack predictably led to very low streamflows throughout the state. All of the state&#8217;s major rivers saw streamflows well below-normal. The map below shows that most streamgauge sites reported water year-averaged streamflow percentiles in the single digits. The poor runoff and warm temperatures also led to very low reservoir levels both in the state (such as Blue Mesa) and downstream (such as Lake Powell).<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"756\" height=\"588\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/streamflow.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1277\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.2857218782386861;width:612px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/streamflow.png 756w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/streamflow-300x233.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 756px) 100vw, 756px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>2026 WY-averaged streamflow percentiles for USGS and NRCS streamgauge sites. Data from USGS\/NRCS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. The March heatwave was truly outlandish.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In late March, a significant heat dome over the western US brought record-smashing temperatures to the region. The statewide-average temperature for March was nearly 10\u00b0F above the 1991-2020 average. Monthly temperature records were obliterated, with some stations seeing values that exceeded monthly maxima for <em>April<\/em>. The heat was long-lasting: some areas of Colorado recorded a week&#8217;s worth of temperatures that were warmer than <em>any other March day<\/em> in the past 75 years (see the map below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This remarkable heat wave took a tremendous toll on mountain snowpack, causing rapid meltoff that had never been recorded so early in the season. While numbers were already running way below-average heading into the spring, and the March heat took matters from bad to worse, solidifying that Water Year 2026 would record the lowest snowpack on record. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"887\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat-1024x887.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1284\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.1544904007215564;width:647px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat-1024x887-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat-300x260.png 300w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat-768x665.png 768w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat-1536x1331.png 1536w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/march2025_heat.png 1990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Number of March 2026 days that were warmer than any other March day in the last 75 years. Data from nClimGrid-daily.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. Two of this year&#8217;s wildfires ranked as top-10 as far as acres burned.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persistent well above-average temperatures and widespread drought created favorable conditions for wildfire development, and late June and July brought explosive wildfire growth. For example, the Aspen Acres Fire grew to 35,000 acres in just the first two days that it was burning. That fire, as well as the Ferris Fire, would go on to become two of Colorado&#8217;s largest wildfires on record by acres burned (ranking #7 and #10 respectively). As heavy precipitation returned later in the year, flash flooding was reported across some of the recent burn scar areas.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"729\" src=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-1024x729.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1279\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4046822742474916;width:693px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-1024x729-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-767x546.png 767w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-1536x1094.png 1536w, https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026fires-2048x1458.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>5000+ acre wildfires in 2026. Data from USDA, NIFC WFIGS, InFORM, and Interagency Wildland Fire Perimeter History.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don&#8217;t forget to check out our full summary!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s that link to the <a href=\"https:\/\/col.st\/aenlo\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/col.st\/aenlo\">StoryMap<\/a> again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, we released our Water Year 2026 report (available as an ArcGIS Storymap or PDF), and it&#8217;s one we won&#8217;t be forgetting about anytime soon. Record-warm temperatures were a key theme of the last 12 months, though there are plenty of other items worth remembering: from snowpack (or lack thereof) to drought and wildfires. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,40,63,18],"tags":[50,41,23,6],"class_list":["post-1272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drought","category-heat","category-snowpack","category-water","tag-drought","tag-heat","tag-snowpack","tag-water"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top-5 Takeaways from Water Year 2026 - Colorado Climate Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/10\/22\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top-5 Takeaways from Water Year 2026 - Colorado Climate Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Tuesday, we released our Water Year 2026 report (available as an ArcGIS Storymap or PDF), and it&#8217;s one we won&#8217;t be forgetting about anytime soon. Record-warm temperatures were a key theme of the last 12 months, though there are plenty of other items worth remembering: from snowpack (or lack thereof) to drought and wildfires. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/10\/22\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colorado Climate Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ColoradoClimateCenter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T16:04:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-22T16:04:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/climate.colostate.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_9667-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allie Mazurek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ColoradoClimate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColoradoClimate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allie Mazurek\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allie Mazurek\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8e15c7b00887e3992b04f43776452909\"},\"headline\":\"Top-5 Takeaways from Water Year 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-22T16:04:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-22T16:04:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":950,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/IMG_9667-1-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"drought\",\"heat\",\"snowpack\",\"water\"],\"articleSection\":[\"drought\",\"heat\",\"snowpack\",\"water\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/climate.colostate.edu\\\/blog\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/22\\\/top-5-takeaways-from-water-year-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"Top-5 Takeaways from Water Year 2026 - 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