DENVER — The city of Denver gets nearly 5 feet of snow in a typical winter. The average works out to about 56.5 inches, and fall is a very important part of the total.
The city has a long record of snowfall dating back to 1882, and over the course of that 139 years, a dry fall usually led to a dry winter overall.
All 10 of the least-snowy seasons in Denver history started out with low snowfall during the fall months of September, October and November.
The average fall snowfall in Denver is 12.5 inches. Keep in mind that Denver got zero snow this fall.
Here's another way to look at the data. The 10 least-snowy falls in Denver history, excluding the current season, all finished the season below the average of 56.5 inches.
Based on the strong correlation in the data, there is a very high probability that Denver will finish the 2021-22 season with less than 56 inches of snow.
The data is not as conclusive for mountain snowpack. There are several examples in history of the snowpack recovering from a dry fall. But Denver Water records show that 22% to 23% of our snowpack comes during the fall months.
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