DENVER — Meteorologists and hydrologists track annual precipitation in a time period called the water year, which starts on Oct. 1 and goes through the end of September.
That’s mainly so all the precipitation that falls as snow is recorded in the same year. Annual totals that span a normal calendar year would split the winter snow season in half. For example, the 2023 calendar year includes half of last winter's snow and half of the snow to come in the next winter.
It’s also the time of year when reservoirs start to level out as the demand for water goes down. There are fewer crops and lawns to water in October, so precipitation records could better match the progression of water storage.
And for Denver, this water year will be the 11th wettest on record, with 20.23 inches. That record goes back 151 years and includes several locations, including Denver International Airport (DIA).
In just the 27-year DIA record, the 20.23 inches of precipitation ranks as the second wettest, behind the 1998-99 water year that recorded 21.90 inches.
There was 21.77 inches of precipitation at Denver Central Park this water year, which makes it the fourth-wettest water year there since 1948.
And this is the wettest water year on record at Centennial Airport, with 25.37 inches of precipitation. That record goes back only 25 years.
Using the calendar year, Denver has had 18.12 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1. That’s already close to 4 inches above the annual average and about 5 inches away from breaking the all-time wettest year from 1967, with three months left to go.
It would take some significant snow to reach that mark, however, because Denver’s average precipitation from October through December is just under 2 inches.
More 9NEWS stories by Cory Reppenhagen:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Colorado Climate
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.