DENVER — Often when it rains or snows in Colorado, there's a double-edged sword. The rain or snow might bring beneficial moisture, but it can lead to major headaches in the form of flooding, severe storms, and/or difficult travel.
But Tuesday night's rain and snow is almost the ideal balance: We're getting a lot of beneficial moisture with virtually no headaches.
While there's the chance for some minor flooding and higher elevation snow to stick on roads, almost all of Tuesday and Wednesday's rain and snow will come in the form of a slow soaking. In other words, it's not falling fast enough to create flood or travel issues, yet it's also going to last long enough to bring us plenty of the rain we so desperately need.
Even better, most of Colorado is getting in on at least some of the action. Sometimes, these types of beneficial rain events impact only a small section of the state. But tonight, most of Colorado is getting in on the rain and snow.
That said, northern Colorado stands to get the majority of this storm system's precipitation, which will leave drought-stricken southern Colorado a little shut out (but not entirely).
Finally, of course, tonight's rain and snow is coming at a near-perfect time. Tonight's precipitation is falling on the final day of May, which is on average the wettest month of the year for much of eastern Colorado.
Tonight's rain should be enough to bring Denver's monthly rainfall up above its full May average, and tonight's snow in the mountains should further delay the full melt of our snowpack. That, in turn, will likely push back the start of our summer wildfire season.
So as you fall asleep to the gentle sounds of rain pattering your roof tonight, take a little extra comfort in knowing this moisture is especially beneficial.
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