Colorado Springs ended 2025 on a hot streak and that doesn’t look to cease anytime soon. After tying the warmest mean temperature on record for December, the city recorded a record high for the first day of the year at 65 degrees Fahrenheit. For December, the National Weather Service (NWS) r eported that Colorado Springs averaged a high of 55.4 degrees throughout December, 10.8 degrees higher than the monthly average. Low temperatures last month averaged 26.6 degrees, 7.9 degrees above the monthly average. The latter half of the month, which included five days with record-breaking temperatures, ranked as the warmest on record for Dec. 15 through Dec. 31 with an average temperature of 43.8 degrees. 2025 was the ninth warmest recorded year for Colorado Springs, with an average temperature of 51.5 degrees, 1.1 degree higher than average. Looking ahead, January is projected to stay warm and dry for the next few days before a storm system moves in late next week. The average January temperature in Colorado Springs is 31.7 degrees, while precipitation averages 0.29 inches and snow averages 4.9 inches.  Because of the warmer temperatures and a lack of anticipated snow, El Paso County Fire Warden and Sheriff Joe Roybal reinstated Stage 1 Fire Restrictions for the unincorporated portions of the county on Dec. 31. Lauren Brand, a meteorologist at Gazette news partner KOAA, said she wouldn’t be surprised to see future restrictions and red-flag warnings in the coming weeks and months, considering recent dry conditions and warmer than normal climate projections. “With the pattern change that we’re seeing, plus the current snowpack where it’s at, I do imagine that fire danger is going to be pretty bad this year,” she said. On average, January is tied with December as the coldest month of the year in Colorado Springs. Mike Nosko, a NWS meteorologist in Pueblo, said these two months are also typically the driest. “Then, things start to increase a little bit in February, but mainly March and April are our snowiest months,” he said. “Typically, that’s the case, anyway. Last year, it didn’t work out that way.” In 2025, January yielded 10.4 inches of snow, while February brought 7.1 inches and the following two months produced only 4.8 inches. By the end of 2025, Colorado Springs recorded its 34th-lowest snow total with 27.8 inches, 4.7 inches below average.  Entering 2026, Nosko said Colorado’s snowpack in general is “way lower than usual for this time of year.” Wolf Creek Summit he said, for example, typically has a snowpack of around 100 inches by the start of the new year and currently only has 26 inches as of Jan. 2, according to the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. It also reports the statewide snowpack currently at 59% of the normal median, with individual basins reporting similar totals. The Arkansas basin currently sits at 49%, while the Upper Rio Grande is at 53% and the South Platte Basin is at 62%. “So, statewide, we’re just kind of experiencing these well-below snowpack levels for Jan. 2,” NWS Pueblo Service Hydrologist Justin Lowen said. “The good news is, of course, that we still have some time. Sometimes, all it takes is one or two big snowstorms to kind of move some snowpack and change the overall outlook, especially knowing that March and April are our snowiest months.” Lowen added that, although Colorado has yet to receive its typical snowstorms, it doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere is lacking for moisture. In lieu of snowpack, southwest Colorado experienced exceptionally heavy rainfall throughout October to keep pace with precipitation averages. “Strangely enough, with the warmer temperatures, you have been seeing more rainfall during the later fall and even early winter along the I-25 corridor,” Lowen said. “But then conversely, with the warmer temperatures, we’ve been seeing driving those lower snowpack levels to a certain extent. So, that’s been kind of an interesting trend.” In Colorado Springs, NWS reported that 2025 was the 46th wettest year in its recorded history, with 16.28 inches of precipitation, 0.37 inches above average. Still, Brand noted the importance of a sufficient snowpack, as its melt and runoff continuously fill reservoirs and supply ground moisture over longer periods of time. “But if we don’t have that incoming snowpack that’s melting, that can cause a lot of issues and that can dry everything out,” she said. Despite coming in the midst of a La Niña pattern, where southern Colorado tends to experience warmer and drier weather, such conditions are being felt across the state. The U.S. Drought Monitor is currently reporting varying degrees of drought across western Colorado, with Eagle and Pitkin counties both currently experiencing “exceptional drought.” Lowen called it “a little anomalous” for northern parts of the state to also be warmer than normal this time of year, but added that transitions to opposite patterns like El Niño can occur later in the year and lead to more neutral conditions. He also said it’s hard to gauge what the current conditions could mean for the entire year. “Any given year, there’s always ebbs and flows or ups and downs in a season,” he said. “So, we’re kind of starting off slow with snowpack so far, but that’s not necessarily an indicator of how we’re going to finish.” The Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) temperature and precipitation outlook for January 2026 leans toward above-normal temperatures, with equal chances of above, below and near-normal precipitation across southcentral and southeast Colorado. (Courtesy of the National Weather Service) Still, ongoing drought conditions, paired with heavy winds, can increase the potential of fire dangers throughout the year and Brand is advising people to remain cognizant in the coming months. “When we see a red flag warning that’s issued, some people don’t know what it is or just kind of dismiss it,” she said. “So just be extra cautious. Don’t throw cigarette butts out your window. Don’t park your car in the grass because that can start a fire.” ...read more read less