Essential snow slow to arrive as Rockies warm

Denver’s winter has started with a whimper, and the parched mountains to the west aren’t faring much better.

The Mile High City has already shattered its 87-year-old record for the latest measurable snowfall, set in November 1934, and it’s little more than a week away from breaking an 1887 record of 235 consecutive days without snow.

The scenario is playing out across much of the Rocky Mountains, as far north as Montana and in the broader western United States, which is experiencing a megadrought that studies have linked to humancaused climate change.

It’s only the second time since 1976 that Salt Lake City has gone snowless through November, and amid the unseasonably warm weather in Montana, a late-season wildfire fuelled by strong winds ripped through a farming town there this week.

The warm, dry weather has drawn crowds to restaurant and bar patios in Denver, and the city’s parks and trails have been bustling with people basking in the sunshine in shorts and short sleeves.

As enjoyable as the weather is, climate scientists and meteorologists are warning that prolonged drought could threaten the region’s water supply and agriculture industry. It also could hurt tourism, which relies heavily on skiers, snowboarders, rafters and anglers.

‘‘Every day that goes by that we don’t see precipitation show up and we see this year-to-year persistence of drought conditions, it just adds to a deficit,’’ said Keith Musselman, a hydrologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

‘‘And we continue to add to this deficit year after year, particularly in the Colorado River Basin.’’

Derek Greenough moved to Denver a few months ago, and immediately bought a snowboard with the hope of soon hitting the slopes. But this week, he was enjoying the warm weather in a city park.

‘‘I figured that on the first day

of December, it would be snowing, at least something, but . . . I don’t think I’ll be snowboarding any time soon,’’ he said.

Denver’s high on Thursday hit 23 degrees Celsius, tying a record set in 1973. The National Weather Service is predicting only a slight chance of snow at the beginning of next week.

Frank Cooper, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado, said a La Nina weather pattern was pushing storm tracks farther north into the Pacific Northwest and Canada, allowing highs in the Denver area to reach into the 20s. The average high in Denver at this time of year is 7C.

Musselman likens mountain snowpack to a natural reservoir that holds moisture during the winter months and releases it in the spring and summer. ‘‘That natural reservoir is being affected by climate change, and warming is reducing the amount of snow that’s occurring in the mountains,’’ he said.

The lack of snow in northern Utah is a rarity. Several ski resorts have delayed opening.

In western Wyoming, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort opened on Thanksgiving, using artificially made snow on a handful of lowelevation runs and in an area for children and other inexperienced skiers.

‘‘We’re not sounding the alarm yet,’’ said resort spokesman Eric Seymour said. He was keeping his fingers crossed that snow forecast for this weekend would allow the upper mountain to open.