Be Prepared for April Snowfall

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The weather in Colorado is unpredictable, even in spring. As people in warmer parts of the country switch to shorts, residents of the Centennial State still have to pay attention to the weather reports. April snow showers are possible, depending on where you live. Here’s a guide on how to be prepared for April snowfalls in Colorado.

Learn From History

A lot of Internet resources are available to track historical snow data for the state. Colorado’s positioning in the southern Rocky Mountains guarantees chaotic precipitation output each year. Still, it’s helpful to know what the norms are.

The most important fact to keep in mind is that where you live matters. Cities in higher elevations generally will receive more snow. You can see by looking at this chart that there are exceptions, though. It shows that Grand Junction’s location on the Colorado Western Slope helps it avoid some of the snowfall in April.

Despite being almost 4,600 feet above sea level, Grand Junction averaged less than an inch of snow each April over a 30-year period. Meanwhile, mountain locations such as Aspen, Telluride, and Vail all experienced at least 20 inches of snow annually during the same time frame. Overall, living in Colorado means that you’ll witness an average of nine inches of snow each April, which is more than many southern states receive in January or February.

Anything Can Happen

One of the reasons you’re likely worrying about snow this April is what happened in 2015, when a mid-April storm blasted the entire state, making national news in the process. Denver, the capital of Colorado, reported snowfall of 4.1 inches at the Denver International Airport. Other regions suffered even greater snowfall, as you can see from this data. Several major cities in Colorado received a foot or more of snow. What’s amazing about the historic precipitation levels is that it was almost one month into spring when the snowstorm struck.

Thundersnow

Perhaps the oddest reports across the Rocky Mountains were of thundersnow. This weather condition is one of the rarest in the world. It occurs when snow hits in combination with thunder and lightning, which means it features all the usual indicators of rainfall. The temperature is so cold that the output is snow instead, though.

This weather event transpires so infrequently that a video of vaunted weather expert Jim Cantore went viral in the immediate aftermath of the storm. That’s because Cantore started celebrating wildly when his on-air broadcast managed to include thundersnow — it’s that rare and dramatic a weather event.

Given the reasons above, the citizens of Colorado and the surrounding areas will tell stories of the April 2015 storm for decades to come. The best way to prepare for a similar event this year or sometime down the line is through proper planning. If an April storm hits, call in an expert for professional snow removal or snow plowing. The team at General Services Corporation is your best safeguard against inclement weather.