The first average snowfall at the Colorado Springs airport is October 24th. This doesn't mean that we get the first snowfall of the year on that date. It can come much earlier or later depending on what's going on with our current weather pattern.
This year we are likely going to transition into a La Nina pattern. To learn more about that weather pattern you can find that article here. With a La Nina pattern, this tends to trend warmer and drier for southern Colorado.
With this transition in mind, the weather team has a friendly competition on who can correctly predict the closest date to our first snowfall. This would mean we would have to receive 0.1" of snowfall at the Colorado Springs Airport.
Meteorologist Alan Rose says "I think we will see our first snowfall on October 29th. Over the past 6 years. It has snowed three times in October, twice in November for the first snowfall,and once on December 31st,and that was the latest for snow on record".
Next up, Meteorologist Alex O' Brien shares her thoughts on the first snowfall date of November 5th saying "There's likely to be a La Nina that develops in the fall and for Southern Colorado that usually means we're going to be drier and warmer,so I think we'll be a little later than average".
Casey Dorn thinks differently, and in his opinion explains "I am forecasting a date of October 19th because I looked at the large scale weather patterns around the world, and the I compared them to years prior. I also combined that with the average first snowfall date".
Lastly, Meteorologist Lauren Brand is predicting a much later date of November 8th. She says she knows this date seems late, but "we need to take into consideration the transition into a La Nina pattern. It's not out of the ordinary to see our first snowfall in November and in fact has happened twice within the past 6 years".
We will keep everyone posted on the outcome of this friendly competition.
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