DENVER — After enduring last summer’s destructive drought, farmers, ranchers and officials across the parched Western states had hoped that plentiful winter snows would replenish the ground and refill their rivers, breaking the grip of one of the worst dry spells in American history. No such luck.

Thin Snowpack Signals Summer of Fire and Drought – NYTimes.com

The current dry spell is hardly one of the most severe in history. It is actually quite ordinary and cyclical.

Colorado, Palmer Modified Drought Index (PMDI), 36-Month Period Ending in January, 1898-2013

Most our precipitation for the year comes between March and June, which hasn’t even started yet. In 1995, there was very little snowpack in Mid-April, and record snowpack in June. Same thing in 2011.

We are up to our necks in snow along the Front Range, which is where the fires occurred last year.  Many places on the western slope have plenty of snow too.

LIVE CAMS – Aspen/Snowmass

They have no way of predicting what the fire season will be like at this time. Their level of journalism is completely in the gutter. We are expecting up to 600% of normal precipitation over the next week.

10-Day Precipitation Outlook for the Conterminous U.S.