Colorado is on track for its worst snowpack on record

By the numbers: Statewide snowpack sits at 62% of the median, per 9News, and several southern basins are hovering near or below 50%.

Why it matters: Low snowpack raises the risk of summer water cuts, earlier and more severe wildfires, and economic fallout for mountain communities that depend on snow-driven tourism.

Threat level: Multiple wildfires have already sparked this winter. And numerous ski areas were forced to delay their openings because there wasn't enough snow.

What they're saying: "It's beyond drought. I think we're reaching a point of desertification," Ean Tafoya, a local environmental activist, said last Friday on "Colorado Inside Out."

• Colorado's role as a headwater state raises the stakes even higher, he added. The Colorado River, which begins in the Rockies, provides water to roughly one-third of the Latino population in the U.S.

Yes, but: There's still time to recover.

• "We've got nearly 3 months until snowpack typically peaks," Bianchi wrote on X, noting that years with similarly bleak midwinter starts — including 1990, 2000 and 2013 — ultimately ended with passable snow seasons.

What's next: The short-term forecast calls for more warm and dry weather, meaning conditions aren't likely to improve anytime soon.