Colorado
Colorado’s literary identity is building, page by page
The customer at the counter of West Side Books in North Denver was trading thoughts with Terry, the ponytailed, bespectacled, thoughtful employee at the register.
Which Jack Kerouac book should he start with?
“On the Road,” Terry answered, then added, “It’s probably easiest.” Somehow that sounded like the kind of understatedly perfect advice one so often receives at an independent bookstore.
Published in 1957, the roman à clef carved Kerouac (as Sal Paradise) and his pal Neil Cassady (Dean Moriarty) into the cornerstone of American letters but also into the history of this town. Kerouac famously bopped around Writers’ Square, My Brother’s Bar and Five Points.
One could argue that the next soul to shape Denver’s sense of its literary self as deeply wasn’t a writer but a purveyor of literature, and ardent defender of the First Amendment: Tattered Cover Book Store founder Joyce Meskis (who died in 2023). And then there was Clara Villarosa, the force behind one of the most robust Black-owned bookstores in the nation: the Hue-Man Bookstore, first in Denver and later, Harlem.
This wee bit of namechecking might be achingly nostalgic were it not for a palpable surge in literary oomph about town. Bookstores continue to have their share of existential challenges, but in the face of the too constant dirge that people (young people, they’re throwing you under the bus!) aren’t reading much, people are still visiting and opening bookstores, enrolling in craft workshops, launching reading series.
Next week features back-to-back events that speak to a surge in literary engagement: Lighthouse Writers Workshop’s gala, Illumination (Sept. 19) and the Margins Book Festival, a program of the Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary (Sept. 21-22).
The best arts ecosystems are both rooted and itinerant: locals stick around but also head out into the world even as folks come and decide to stay awhile. Kathryn Eastman, founding editor of the newly launched site the Rocky Mountain Reader, recalled recognizing something familiar in “Hum,” the well-reviewed, latest novel by Helen Phillips, who grew up in Colorado but currently lives in Brooklyn. “The main character’s desire — her desire for her children [is] to experience nature and the wild,” said Eastman during a recent video call. “It’s such a good book. And as soon as I found out that she was born and raised in Colorado, that aspect of the book made so much sense to me.”
On the other hand, Canada-born Vauhini Vara — her “Immortal King Rao” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist — makes her home in Colorado; she teaches at Colorado State University. Peter Heller, author of the bestselling novel “Dog Stars,” lives in town. His most recent novel, “Burn,” was published last month.
It’s not just an uptick in local luminaries or the parade of authors in and out of the city that suggest a sea change. It’s the cumulative effect of people rethinking how literature works in their lives.
“Booksellers all over the state are more and more becoming community centers,” said Eastburn. “Where there’s writing instruction, places where there are book clubs and places where mothers can gather and let their kids go over to the children’s section and all kinds of things that they do.”
“Denver’s a deliciously unpretentious place in which to engage in art making,” said Lighthouse’s program director Andrea Dupree, who co-founded the organization in 1997 with Michael Henry. “There’s something that feels both lower stakes and higher touch about the mountain West to many of us, especially if we’ve experienced other ecosystems.”
Here are five signs the local ecosystem is flourishing.
Illumination: A (Wild) Literary Soiree
Last year, the Lighthouse Writers Workshop gala’s honoree was the fearsome Roxane Gay. Arguably gentler but no less dynamic, Cheryl Strayed — author of “Wild” — headlines the Sept. 19 celebration. Lighthouse (where I sometimes teach) has much to celebrate. Summer’s Lit Fest was among the best attended in the organization’s near 20-year history and the second to take place in their sleek home in the York Street Yards complex.
“To many who participate in Denver’s literary scene, I think the result is a feeling of freedom — to take risks in their writing, to embrace their feelings of struggle (Michael Cunningham called it, memorably, that “writerly feeling of ineptitude”), to get it right, Dupree stated. “I’ve seen so many writers find their support teams here, and so many of those teams cross generations, race, gender and walk of life.”
Among the workshops, gatherings and retreats (the Writing in Color Retreat and the Queer Creatives Retreat), the organization offers its lauded Hard Times program, which provides space to writers experiencing — or who have experienced — homelessness, addiction, poverty or other challenges.
Tickets for the gala are selling briskly; tickets for a streaming version of an event featuring Strayed the next night are also available. Lighthouse Writers Workshop. 3844 York Street. lighthousewriters.org.
Margins Book Festival
Two years ago, the Margins Book Festival featured one of the most inspiring keynotes I’ve seen. It wasn’t so much a speech but more of a conversation between Nicole Counts, senior editor at the Random House imprint “One World,” and two of her writers, Nate Marshall and K-Ming Chang. In addition to sweetly confessional stories from the authors, the event offered a master class in what an insightful, supportive rapport between editor and writer looks — and sounds — like. So, the bar has been raised for next week’s edition of the biannual event.
The Margins Book Festival is the handiwork of the Denver-based literary arts organization Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary, founded in 2016 by Viniyanka Prasad, a criminal defense attorney. The Word places BIPOC writers with publishing professionals so that authors can find a path to sharing the stories that speak to and of them and deepen our broader cultural conversations.
Headlining the upcoming festival are authors R.O. Kwon, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio and Aaliyah Bilal. This year’s installment of the two-day festival will unfurl on the Santa Fe Arts District corridor.
Margins Book Festival, Sept. 21-22 at Su Teatro, Center for Visual Arts and other locations along the Santa Fe Arts District corridor. Admission is free, although passes are encouraged.
Two bookish hubs for the soul
On a recent and hot Sunday afternoon, Petals & Pages was cool, quiet, oasis-like. How apt. After all, this feminist, queer-owned haven in the Santa Fe Arts District sells a selection of smartly curated books, as well as flowers and plants. It also offers respite for the weary writer with its Writers Corner, and workshops galore. In a clever touch, the shop has memberships, which helps keep it chugging but also seeds its community-nurturing atmosphere. Petals & Pages, 956 Santa Fe Drive, Denver. petalsandpagesofdenver.com.
Flowers and book leaves? Who doesn’t appreciate a hybrid? In the Ballpark neighborhood sits the print-and-social-justice go-to, The Shop at MATTER. The creation of printmaker Rick Griffith and his partner Debra Johnson, MATTER is writing the good fight with its savvy collection of books and other printed treasures. Just bought the handsome (and prescient) “W.E.B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America.” Barely resisted “Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror,” edited by “Get Out” auteur Jordan Peele, (because a budget is a budget is a budget).
The bookstore is adjacent to MATTER’s design studio, where graphics and printmaking whiz Griffith plies his craft and teaches others to do the same. The Shop has room for gatherings, screenings, readings and more. This Saturday, it will host the monthly installment of the Silent Book Club. Think of it as a foxy reading room with very cool people who zip in and read in what the founders of the global gathering call “companionable silence.” The Shop at MATTER, 2114 Market St. shopatmatter.com
Reading Den
One of the coolest watering holes in town — pour me another one of those Kinda Tropicals, why don’tcha? — the woman-owned Fort Greene bar on 45th Avenue in Globeville plays host to a reading series that has its own burgeoning identity as wonderfully hip. The brainchild of Adam Vitcavage and Sarah Ann Noe, Reading Den’s next installment (Sept. 25) mixes a potent cocktail of local and visiting writers: Stefanie Kirby, Danny Goodman, O.O. Sangoyomi, Johnny Redway and Isabella Welch. The Reading Den at Fort Greene, 321 E. 45th Ave. fortgreenbar.com
Rocky Mountain Reader
Kathryn Eastburn modeled the new literary hub on Chapter 16, an online lit journal created in 2009 by the essayist Margaret Renkl (Reese Witherspoon’s beloved high-school teacher) and supported by Tennessee Humanities. Chapter 16’s tagline — “A Community for Writers, Readers & Passersby” — captures the expansive spirit of building camaraderie between those who write and those who read, and those who are sometimes one in the same.
“I just think what they’re doing makes sense,” said Eastburn, who lives in Colorado Springs. “They provide a hub for the whole state. And, you know, as media has become so fragmented and literary arts coverage is siloed, each organization has its own thing. It seemed like it was a good idea to bring together readers and writers, book lovers, in general, and publishers all together in one place.”
For her own, statewide site, which launched Sept. 1, Eastburn wants “people to know who’s out there and what they’re doing.” And this isn’t just an invitation for city dwellers.
“I want rural readers to know what’s going on, whatever population center is nearest them. There’s fascinating stuff going on all over the state, but people in Greeley don’t know what people in Durango are doing.” rockymountainreader.org
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Colorado
Colorado faces LA in first round as Kings captain Anze Kopitar embarks on final Stanley Cup chase
DENVER — Anze Kopitar wrapped up the last regular season of his storied career. The Los Angeles Kings captain wants to prolong his final playoff run for as long as possible.
Kopitar, who announced in September his plans to retire, instantly becomes a postseason rallying point for the Kings. They have a tall task ahead of them against the Colorado Avalanche, the top team in the league, with the top goal scorer in Nathan MacKinnon and one of the best defensemen in the game in Cale Makar. Game 1 is Sunday at Ball Arena, where the Avalanche are 26-9-6.
“Playoffs,” said the 38-year-old Kopitar, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Kings. “I’m not going to say anything can happen, but we’ll go in and we’ll play hard and we’ll see where that takes us.”
This will be the third postseason series between the two teams and the first in 24 years. Colorado won in seven games during both the 2002 conference quarterfinals and the 2001 conference semifinals.
It’s been a record season for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche as they amassed the most points (121) in franchise history. That broke the mark set by the 2022 team, which went on to win the Stanley Cup title. MacKinnon had a career-best 53 goals.
Goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood shared the net this season and surrendered a league low in goals. They earned the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is presented to the goalies who have played a minimum of 25 games — Wedgewood suited up in 45 and Blackwood 39 — for the team with the fewest goals allowed. The other goaltender to win that honor for Colorado was Hall of Famer Patrick Roy (2001-02).
“We’re in a good spot,” Colorado forward Brock Nelson said. “The mentality of this group throughout the year, right from the start of training camp, (was) set on a mission to be the best team.”
Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon (29) celebrates the goal against Edmonton Oilers goalie Connor Ingram (39) during shoot-out NHL action, in Edmonton on Monday, April 13, 2026. Credit: AP/JASON FRANSON
Record against each other
The Kings went 0-3 against Colorado this season and were outscored by a 13-5 margin.
“You hear the hype. They have good players,” Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke said. “We’re a scrappy team. We keep it close with everybody. That can really frustrate them.”
Leading after two
The Avalanche were 41-0-0 when leading after two periods. They’re the first squad to have a lead after two periods on 40 or more instances and capture each one, according to team research.
“Even though we’ve been smart, we’ve been committed, we’ve been relentless at times, it’s going to have to go to a whole new level now,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I have faith in our guys.”
Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar, who is retiring after this season, acknowledges the crowd after being recognized after losing to the Vancouver Canucks during overtime NHL hockey action in Vancouver, on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Credit: AP/DARRYL DYCK
Remember the season opener?
Six grueling months ago, the Avalanche and Kings opened the season against each other. The Avalanche won 4-1 in Los Angeles behind a pair of goals from Martin Necas, who would go on to register his first 100-point season (38 goals, 62 assists).
The two teams join an exclusive club by becoming the fifth pair since 2015-16 to open the regular season and the playoffs against each other, according to NHL Stats. The other pairs to do so were Montreal and Toronto (2020-21); Colorado and St. Louis (2020-21); St. Louis and Winnipeg (2018-19); and Los Angeles and San Jose (2015-16).
Of those teams that won the season opener only San Jose went on to win the series. It’s a trend Kopitar and the Kings wouldn’t mind joining.
Kopitar and the playoffs
Kopitar helped the Kings to the Stanley Cup title in 2011-12 and 2013-14 along with goaltender Jonathan Quick, who now is with the New York Rangers and recently said he’s retiring. Kopitar has played in 103 postseason games with 27 goals and 62 assists.
“The intensity ramps up, everything ramps up,” Kopitar said of the postseason. “Every mistake, every little play, magnifies now.”
Familiar faces
Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper was in net for the Avalanche when they won the Stanley Cup in 2022. In addition, Kuemper and Drew Doughty were teammates with MacKinnon, Makar and Devon Toews when Canada won silver at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Colorado
U.S. Women’s National Team Closes Three-Game Series Against Japan With Emphatic 3-0 Victory in Colorado
COMMERCE CITY, COLO. (April 17, 2026) – Naomi Girma, Rose Lavelle and Kennedy Wesley scored second-half goals to lead the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 3-0 victory over Japan in the third and final match of the series between the two sides.
Wesley recorded her first international goal and assist in her sixth cap to become the 27th player to score under U.S. head coach Emma Hayes. Girma scored her third international goal and Lavelle scored her 29th, marking her 10th goal contribution in her last 10 appearances.
Precision in the final third had been a key point of emphasis for Hayes heading into the match, and even though the USA did not score before the break, it showed flashes of what was to come in the second half, dominating 70% of possession and firing nine shots. The USWNT then broke through with three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half to record its largest victory over Japan since 2017.
For the first time in this three-game series, the match went into halftime scoreless, but the Americans came close on several occasions. Off one of the USA’s four first half corner kicks, the most dangerous look came in the 21st minute from a Lavelle service that was headed around the box before defender Tierna Davidson nodded the ball down to Sophia Wilson, who had her back to goal. The forward chested down the ball and smashed a turnaround half-volley that forced a point blank save from Japanese goalkeeper Chika Hirao. Girma leaped up to get her head on the rebound, but her shot went over the crossbar.
In the 39th minute, Lavelle received the ball just past half field and played a long switch over to Alyssa Thompson on the left side. The forward beat her defender before playing a pass centrally to midfielder Claire Hutton at the top of the box. Her first-time shot from just outside the penalty box clanged off the crossbar and out for a goal kick. In one of the final plays before the half, forward Trinity Rodman cut inside the box and sent a cross in that deflected off defender Toko Koga, nearly causing an own goal before Hirao collected the ball.
As it did in the first match of the series, the USA came out hot to start the second half and scored almost immediately. On April 11, the USA scored 141 seconds into the half and tonight the goal came 155 seconds after the half began. The USA earned a corner kick after Wilson blasted a shot from outside the box that forced another leaping save from Hirao. Lavelle sent in service from the right corner that drifted towards Wesley at the back post. Wesley headed the cross back in front of goal for Girma, who redirected the ball with a powerful header into the back of the net. The goal was a combination of two center backs and former Stanford University teammates for Girma’s first goal since October of 2024.
Less than 10 minutes later, Wesley started the counterattack that led to the second goal. The defender picked off a pass in the USA’s defensive third and played captain Lindsey Heaps in the midfield. Heaps passed the ball forward to Rodman, who nutmegged her defender with a long pass, splitting two more Japanese players to send Lavelle in on a breakaway. Lavelle dribbled to the top of 18-yard box and then slotted a low shot into the bottom left corner with class to double the lead.
The squad kept the momentum rolling following substitutions just after the hour mark. A few minutes after entering the match, midfielder Jaedyn Shaw stepped up to take the USA’s sixth corner kick of the match. She sent a cross to the center of the box where Wesley leaped to hit a shot with the outside of her right foot, redirecting the ball through traffic and into the left side goal for the third of the night and the first of her USWNT career.
The USA held Japan scoreless for the first time in the series with goalkeeper Claudia Dickey making three saves to earn her eighth clean sheet in her 10th appearance.
Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA –NAOMI GIRMA (KENNEDY WESLEY),47th minute: Rose Lavelle lofted a corner kick from the right to the back post to Kennedy Wesley, who drifted under the ball and headed it back in front of the face of goal. Naomi Girma was in perfect position to redirect the cross with a forceful header into the back of the net at the center of the six-yard box. USA 1, JPN 0
USA – ROSE LAVELLE (TRINITY RODMAN), 56th minute: Kennedy Wesley intercepted a pass in the USA’s defensive third and played Lindsey Heaps near the center circle. Heaps played the ball forward to Trinity Rodman, who split two defenders with a pass up the field as Lavelle made a run inside. Lavelle dribbled toward the 18-yard box before slotting her shot to the bottom left corner of the goal. USA 2, JPN 0
USA – KENNEDY WESLEY (JAEDYN SHAW), 63rd minute: Jaedyn Shaw sent a corner kick toward the center of the box. Around eight yards out, Kennedy Wesley connected with the cross using the outside of her right foot, sending her shot through traffic into the back of the net. USA 3, JPN 0 FINAL
Additional Notes:
- Emma Hayes made 10 changes to the Starting XI from the last match against Japan on April 14 with Claire Hutton as the only player to start two games in a row. However, this Starting XI had only two changes from the Starting XI on April 11 in the first game against Japan. From the first match, Tierna Davidson replaced Kennedy Wesley on the back line and Hutton stepped in for midfielder Sam Coffey.
- With her cap today, Colorado native Lindsey Heaps tied Shannon MacMillan for 18th most caps in USWNT history with 176, making her one of only 19 women to reach the milestone. Heaps will return to her hometown to play professionally as a member of the NWSL’s Denver Summit upon the completion of her contract with OL Lyonnes in July.
- The other starter from Colorado was forward Sophia Wilson. The last time Wilson and Heaps played in Colorado was on June 1, 2024, vs. Korea Republic. The U.S. also won that match 4-0, which was also Hayes’ first match as head coach of the USWNT and the fourth-to-last match before of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Wilson hails from Windsor just an hour from Commerce City and Denver proper while Golden, a suburb of Denver, is Heaps’ hometown.
- Davidson earned the start, her first since Feb. 23, 2025, in a 2-1 win over Australia. In the WNT’s previous match on April 14, Davidson entered as a substitute in the 65th minute, her first appearance in more than one year following her recovery from an ACL injury she suffered in March of 2025. Tonight, she played the first 45 minutes before coming out on pre-planned sub.
- Center back Naomi Girma scored her third international goal – and all three have been headers. She scored her first two international goals on Oct. 30, 2024, against Argentina.
- Girma was assisted on her goal by fellow center back and Stanford Cardinal Kennedy Wesley, who replaced Davidson at halftime. Girma and Wesley played two full seasons together on the backline over three overlapping school years (2019-2022) as Girma took a redshirt season for her junior year (2020-21) due to injury. It was Wesley’s first international assist in her sixth career cap.
- Rose Lavelle’s goal in the 56th minute tonight was her 29th career goal and second goal of the week after recording one goal and an assist in the April 11 match against Japan. Lavelle now has 10 goal contributions in her last 10 matches for the USWNT.
- Lavelle was assisted by forward Trinity Rodman, who recorded her 11th international assist.
- Wesley scored her first international goal in the 64th minute. She is the 27th player to score a goal under head coach Emma Hayes. The center back ended her 45 minutes of play with two contributions, a goal and an assist, and was voted Woman of the Match.
- Jaedyn Shaw recorded her fifth career assist on Wesley’s goal with her service on a corner kick.
- Two of the three goals scored by the U.S. tonight came off corner kicks.
- The USWNT recorded its first clean sheet of the April window and its eighth shutout win in its last 10 matches.
- With the temperature at 38 degrees at kickoff and patches of snow pushed outside the edges of the pitch, it was the coldest WNT game since February 2022, which kicked off in Frisco, Texas.
- With the new FIFA substitution rules in effect (eight are now allowed in friendly matches), and Japan making use of a concussion sub, which gave the USA an extra substitution opportunity, the USA made its most ever substitutions in a single game over the 778 matches in program history with nine.
- Japan also made nine substitutions.
– U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –
Match: United States vs. Japan
Date: April 17, 2026
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: DICK’S Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.
Attendance: 17,589
Kickoff: 7 p.m. MT / 9 p.m. ET
Weather: 38 degrees, mostly sunny
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| USA | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| JPN | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| USA — Naomi Girma (Kennedy Wesley) | 47th minute |
| USA — Rose Lavelle (Trinity Rodman) | 56 |
| USA — Kennedy Wesley (Jaedyn Shaw) | 64 |
Lineups:
USA: 1-Claudia Dickey, 23-Emily Fox, 4-Naomi Girma (5-Lilly Reale, 83), 12-Tierna Davidson (25-Kennedy Wesley, 46), 22-Gisele Thompson (3-Avery Patterson, 62), 10-Lindsey Heaps (Capt.) (17-Sam Coffey, 63), 15-Claire Hutton (7-Lily Yohannes, 82), 16-Rose Lavelle (13-Olivia Moultrie, 73), 2-Trinity Rodman (20-Michelle Cooper, 73), 11-Sophia Wilson (9-Ally Sentnor, 73), 21-Alyssa Thompson (8-Jaedyn Shaw, 63)
Substitutes not used: 6-Emily Sams, 19-Emma Sears, 24-Phallon Tullis-Joyce
Not dressing: 14-Emily Sonnett, 18-Jane Campbell
Head Coach: Emma Hayes
JPN: 12-Chika Hirao, 2- Risa Shimizu (24-Maya Hijikata, 74), 6-Toko Koga (3-Moeka Minami, 60), 4-Saki Kumagai, 13-Hikaru Kitagawa (21-Miyabi Moriya, 25), 19-Momoko Tanikawa (20-Manaka Matsukubo, 46), 16-Yuzuki Yamamoto (17-Maika Hamano, 46), 14-Yui Hasegawa (Capt.) (10-Fuka Nagano, 74), 15-Aoba Fujino (22-Remina Chiba, 74), 9-Riko Ueki (11-Mina Tanaka, 46), 7-Hinata Miyazawa (18-Honoka Hayashi, 60)
Substitutes not used: 23-Akane Okuma, 1-Ayaka Yamashita
Head Coach: Michihisa Kano
Stats Summary: USA / JPN
Shots: 15 / 5
Shots on Goal: 7 / 3
Saves: 3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Fouls: 7 / 5
Offside: 0 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
None
Officials:
Ref: Myriam Marcotte (CAN)
AR1: Mijensa Rensch (SUR)
AR2: Stephanie Yee Sing (JAM)
4TH: Carly Shaw-Maclaren (CAN)
DENVER — This winter and spring have produced Colorado’s worst snowpack on record, often measured via weather stations throughout the high country known as SNOpack TELemetry or SNOTEL stations.
Over the last few years, a new kind of complimentary measurement has been taking off — literally.
What started as a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab research project became Airborne Snow Observations (ASO), a company that flies small planes over the mountains to measure the snowpack. Starting in 2015, a joint effort with the state began to deploy the technology and put it to work.
Denver7 got a look at the technology last year.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Airborne lasers are measuring Colorado’s snowpack, and the technology is taking off
The planes use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems to measure the depth of the snowpack across an entire basin, as well as spectrometers that measure how reflective the snow is to determine how fast it is melting.
“The holistic perspective is an important one,” ASO Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Jeffrey Deems said. “And by that I mean not just the full basin perspective on the snowpack, but how that snowpack evolves with our changing forests, the subsurface hydrology, soil moisture and groundwater. All of this adds up to what our managers and what we ultimately see in our rivers, behind our dams and in our reservoirs and in our taps.”
Through the Colorado Airborne Snow Measurement (CASM) program, ASO works with more than 100 water management partners ranging from small irrigation districts to large utilities like Denver Water. Deems said the more nuanced data helps those groups decide how to manage reservoirs or water restrictions.
Deems, who lives in Carbondale, said ASO’s flights cover 16 watersheds in Colorado.
“The full basin perspective is really showing us that there’s parts of the watershed that have more snow than others, and that information can really help managers on the ground anticipate what parts of their watershed or what diversion structures or what reservoirs are going to have better inflow versus other parts of the basin,” Deems explained. “That granularity can really help them out come operations time, now.
“The less [water] you have, the more you need to know about it,” he added.
Broader perspective ‘actually even more dire’
Deems said this year, ASO had to move flights up earlier than usual because the snowpack peaked early and began to rapidly melt. He said ASO did 18 survey flights in just one week in March.
ASO Inc.
Data from those flights show the huge drop off in snowpack this year compared to last.
- Watch the full story in the video player below.
Water managers getting a birds-eye view of CO’s historically bad snowpack
“In some cases, the full basin perspective is actually even more dire than what we’re seeing from the [SNOTEL] station network this time of year,” Deems said. “With early melt, those stations are still protected in their little forest pockets and aren’t melting as fast as the more open areas. So we’re seeing perhaps faster declines in the snowpack, and less overall than the stations would indicate in some areas.”
“In other basins, we’re seeing that there’s still a good bit of high elevation snow up there, similar to last year. So not that last year was a huge runoff year, but in some parts of the watersheds, not quite as dire,” he added.
The airborne observation technology is gaining more continuity in the state, with the CASM network expanding.
“And then just last year, a brand new program within the Colorado Water Conservation Board really takes that stakeholder-led effort and creates a state program,” Deems explained. “Having that background of a lot of years of working with these data in different parts of the state really helps with that confidence moving forward, so that folks know how to apply it and how to look to these data in times of crisis, like right now.”
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Denver7’s Ryan Fish covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in covering artificial intelligence, technology, aviation and space. If you’d like to get in touch with Ryan, fill out the form below to send him an email.
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