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Farewell Summer, Hello Fall. A Colorado State Open Thread. August 31, 2026 [1]

['Peter Olandt', 'Greg Dworkin', 'Dan K']

Date: 2026-08-31  

My neighbors mentioned that they have an aspen tree already changing its leaf color to the autumn gold that makes Colorado hillsides such beautiful colors in the fall. We’re only at 8300 feet in elevation, and yet, here is an early-changer. Of course, higher-up, and farther north, you’ll start seeing more colors changing next month and then gradually the colors will start standing out as the cold weather sweeps farther south. I grew up in deciduous forests of the Midwest with the reds, yellows, browns, purples even mixed with greens of the pines and they all were beautiful. I do, however, love the deep greens with the sharp yellow aspens of Colorado, and even some reds mixed in with some whites of aspens and some oak, maples and other trees.

One of my absolute favorite posters of all time was a poster of an Appalachian forest in the fall and it had just the word “Diversity” under the picture. It was hanging in an office devoted to promoting student diversity among people of all races, colors, hues, and it pointed out how Mother Nature could create a beautiful forest from trees of all different colors and species without any fighting or arguments.

I don’t know how many of you might have read today’s story by Peter Olandt about whether you might want to go through the next few years with or without the next few years with or without Daily Kos. It focused a great deal on the idea of finances and how DailyKos has been asking readers for quite a long time to remember that it is reader funded – it is not funded by primarily by some big billionaire as a vanity project or by lots of advertisements (though that is a funding source). It is reader funded and if readers don’t find enough reason to fund the site, it can go away. I have a feeling if it does go away, it will be sudden, and we will all suddenly be very sorry for what we have lost.

I read the story, and it was sobering, but I found the comments section just as interesting as the main section. I have been coming and contributing stories to DailyKos for over 20 years now. I have been writing this Colorado State Open Thread for over ten years. I will freely admit that I have become somewhat comfortable in my ways, and perhaps my readers have become comfortable in my Open Threads. Two to five or so articles gathered from around Colorado’s various news publications, and I try and offer some additional thoughts to what the original posts say in order to put some sort of slant either from my point of view or from a Daily Kos or progressive or political POV.

That can sometimes become a bit stale, so I am always happy when I get additional postings from contributors from other areas around the state, especially that I haven’t visited in awhile or I haven’t read the local newspapers from. You folks help make this Open Thread so much more interesting for me, and I have really enjoyed when you guest-write pieces when I’m away. Photos, links to articles, personal recollections, they’re all things that make Colorado richer. I do go back and re-read pieces at times when I get reminded of things.

So, I’ll give a few links here about weather things that I’ve found interesting around the state this week, but please, if something has struck you as being worth sharing, put a comment down below, I guarantee I’ll take a look at it and appreciate the time it took you to add it to the Thread. And I hope that Daily Kos keeps on.

Have you heard about the El Niño in the Pacific that will affect Colorado’s winter weather this year?

Projections are all over the map on this, but generally they’re favorable for lots of snow in Colorado.

From the Denver Gazette: Record-breaking El Niño could bring wet winter to parts of Colorado, push global temps higher

…

This bodes well for southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and their ski resorts, including Telluride, Wolf Creek, Purgatory and Silverton, which Smith thinks will likely benefit from this year’s predicted storm path. As these low-pressure storm systems track across the southwest, they can induce easterly winds that drop precipitation in upslope storms along the Front Range. Eldora, Winter Park, Loveland and even Arapahoe Basin could see their snow totals benefit from upslope storm cycles, he said. Summit County resorts and other popular ski destinations may not be so lucky, though. In northern and central Colorado, west of the Continental Divide, strong El Niños offer less certain outlooks. “Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper, Vail, Beaver Creek, Aspen, Crested Butte, Steamboat, these areas, they can really go either way in these kinds of winters,” Smith noted.

UniColorado, an HVAC company has a very detailed projection about what the Super El Nino means for all the different areas of Colorado, including what types of snow to expect (heavy, fluffy, when the melting will occur, etc) and I found the site quite interesting.

For example, I think they must have either a meteorologist on staff or they have someone who they are listening to:

Three specific things to expect: A higher rain-snow line. Warmer storms push the elevation where rain turns to snow uphill. Denver sits at 5,280 feet, low enough that a marginal storm can start as rain and end as heavy, wet snow, the kind that snaps tree limbs and power lines. The high resorts, almost all with base areas above 8,000 feet, are far better protected. This is Colorado’s structural advantage over Tahoe and the Pacific Northwest, where whole seasons increasingly drown in rain.

Warmer storms push the elevation where rain turns to snow uphill. Denver sits at 5,280 feet, low enough that a marginal storm can start as rain and end as heavy, wet snow, the kind that snaps tree limbs and power lines. The high resorts, almost all with base areas above 8,000 feet, are far better protected. This is Colorado’s structural advantage over Tahoe and the Pacific Northwest, where whole seasons increasingly drown in rain. Denser, heavier snow down low. The 5% moisture blower powder Colorado markets itself on is a cold-storm product. Warm subtropical storms run 10 to 15% moisture. One foot of it holds as much water as two or three feet of fluff, which is excellent for snowpack and reservoirs, but it skis heavier, shovels much heavier, and sets up like concrete overnight.

The 5% moisture blower powder Colorado markets itself on is a cold-storm product. Warm subtropical storms run 10 to 15% moisture. One foot of it holds as much water as two or three feet of fluff, which is excellent for snowpack and reservoirs, but it skis heavier, shovels much heavier, and sets up like concrete overnight. A back-loaded season with midwinter thaws. The last strong El Niño, 2023-24, ran below-normal snowpack from November through January, then caught up fast and finished above normal by mid-March. Super El Niño seasons lean late. Expect January warm spells that look like the pattern failed, then a February and March that rewrite the season. In short: the high country, especially down south, should hold quality. The Front Range gets volume with no promise of quality, and lower-elevation towns on the Western Slope land in between.

Hold On! Says the Colorado Sun. The El Nino Ain’t Here Yet!

In the article from today, https://coloradosun.com/2026/08/31/colorado-super-el-nino-winter-forecast/

It’s taking its time and it likely won’t peak for months.

This year’s El Niño might be one of the strongest on record, but its impacts on Colorado’s weather — and upcoming snow season — are still to be determined, climate and weather experts say. The El Niño, a climate pattern that begins in the Pacific Ocean, can drive dry periods in some regions while others are hit by storms. And this year, it is already strong and likely to keep growing, according to forecasts. But because of Colorado’s inland location, and other factors that influence its weather cycle, climatologists aren’t yet ready to promise relief from this summer’s punishing drought. “One thing that I see that makes me a little nervous is that people get really excited that it’s going to be this big snow year for Colorado,” said Peter Goble, Colorado’s assistant state climatologist. “I’m not saying it won’t be … but we definitely don’t have enough information to say that just based on the fact that El Niño is in place.” … The El Niño can lead to slow-moving weather systems that drop rain or snow on landlocked Colorado. But the effects vary by region. The Northern Rockies tend to be wetter in fall and spring, but drier in the midwinter months during an El Niño cycle. Western Colorado falls in an in-between area — there’s a 50-50 chance that it would be a wetter or drier year than usual, said Erin Walter, a service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. It’s a wait-and-see situation. “I know people rely on El Niño, especially for agriculture and for recreation,” Walter said. “The snowfall in our winter is incredibly important. So I understand why there’s the hype and the desire to know what could happen.”

Well, I ran out of time again. The cool misty rain is moving in from Rocky Mountain National Park and I think I will go enjoy some of that until I get too cold and have to come back in again. Please, share some comments because the floor is yours. I look forward to reading all of them and have a great week and a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. Maybe I’ll see you during the celebrations.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/31/800090737/community/this-is-crazy-a-colorado-state-open-thread-august-31-2026/

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