Winter? Where?

The calendar says winter, but if you look outside in many parts of Colorado it's not! In my 25 years of living in the Vail Valley, this is the driest winter yet. As of January 15th the SWE (Snow Water Equivalent) is at 47% of normal for Vail Mountain. Many golf courses in Colorado, especially the front range and western slope continue to winter water to prevent desiccation. Although there is a lot of winter left, it's certainly starting to sound the alarms concerning water availability and drought for this summer.

Most recent SWE graph.

Walking Eagle Ranch Golf Club on January 15th, it didn't seem like winter.

This is what I usually see on Eagle Ranch GC this time of year.
The groomer hasn't left the shop this season!

Haven't even dusted off the Nordic skate ski's this season. Normally I have
about 30 days of skating in at this time.