Metro Denver springs are getting slightly warmer
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Denver springs are heating up — with more unusually hot days — but at a significantly lower rate than the national average, a new analysis finds.
Why it matters: Warming springs can elevate drought conditions because they can lead to snow melting sooner, leaving less water during summer months and beyond, University of Colorado associate professor Pedro DiNezio tells us.
- Early snowmelt can imperil summer water resources and heighten wildfire risks, while rising temperatures can also worsen allergies.
By the numbers: Nonprofit climate research and communications organization Climate Central examined 55 years of U.S. temperature data for 241 cities and found the meteorological spring of March through May has warmed by a national average of 2.4°F.
Yes, but: Metro Denver's 0.6-degree increase over the study's span is much lower than the national average.
- The Reno, Nevada, area experienced the most significant seasonal spike — 6.8°.
Meanwhile, the Mile High City experiences two days of hotter-than-normal spring temperatures, Climate Central found.
- Again, that's far less than an area like El Paso, which has an average of 39 more days with hotter-than-normal spring temperatures.
Caveat: DiNezio, a climate change expert, says it's important to note the famously topsy-turvy weather in the Front Range, where days can go from very hot to very cold in a short span when considering climate studies.
- While researchers are still trying to identify why cities like Denver can have such drastic swings in conditions, DiNezio says the city's proximity to the mountains may play a role.
Reality check: Though Colorado sits in a region of the country with the fastest-warming spring, fall outranks spring for the fastest-warming season in much of the Southwest and West.
The bottom line: The spring warming trend nationwide is unfolding in tandem with increasing temperatures around the world due to human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.