National Climatic Data Center, 14 January 2003

According to a December 31 report in The Denver Post, the annual new year snow measurement taken at Berthoud Pass, Colorado, indicated below normal snowpack for this time of year.

"This is our sixth consecutive year of below-average snowpack," said Mike Gillespie, snow-survey supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. "In my time of doing this in the last 20-some years, I haven't seen another period where we've had that many consecutive below-average snowpack years. ... And it's not going to take just one good year, but several years to recover from last year."

Allen Green, the state conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, described the current drought as more severe than the "Dust Bowl" days of the 1930s.

Improved farming and ranching practices have prevented the giant clouds of dust from forming but have not saved many ranchers from selling off their herds of livestock.

"There's only so much you can do," Green said.

According to The Pueblo Chieftan (Chieftan.com), members of The Associated Press voted the wildfires of 2002 as the top news story in Colorado, with the drought voted as the second top news story of 2002.

The drought left the state dangerously vulnerable to fire. It was Colorado's deadliest fire season in eight years:

• nine firefighters dead
• at least 235 homes destroyed
• 915,000 acres charred.

Cities imposed strict watering restrictions, about $100 million worth of wheat withered. A study of tree rings suggested 2002 was the driest year on the Front Range since 1725.

Denver recorded the driest year on record in 2002. As noted by the National Weather Service,

• Each of the 12 months of 2002 recorded below normal precipitation.
• As of December 2002, Denver has experienced 17 months in a row with below normal precipitation.
• The city finished the year with the lowest amount of annual precipitation ever recorded in the 130 years of weather records. Denver records have been maintained since 1872.
• 2002 finished with a dismal 7.48 inches of precipitation, 8.33 inches below the new normal of 15.81 inches.
• The old driest record was 7.51 inches recorded in 1954.
• Even though 2002 was the driest year on record, none of the 12 months set records for being the driest month and only two months made it into the top ten driest. April (0.23 inches) was third driest and December (0.05 inches) sixth driest.
• There were 60 days with measurable precipitation, which was 29 below the 89 day normal.