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May 17, 2006 12:46 pm US/Mountain
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Colorado Mountain Snow Could Melt By Mid-June
DENVER (AP) ―
With summerlike heat in the forecast, most of Colorado's mountain snows could melt and run off by mid-June, experts say.
"I'd say it's a few days to a couple of weeks early," said Chris Pacheco, assistant snow survey superintendent of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. "At this rate, the snow is going to be gone by early to mid-June."
The National Weather Service said high temperatures could reach near 90 degrees in Denver and in the 70s in mountain valleys in the next few days. The heat wave is expected to keep overnight readings above freezing in the high country, triggering around-the-clock melting, said Mike Baker, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.
Computerized readings by the Natural Resources Conservation Service show the spring melt has been faster and earlier than usual, Pacheco said.
Flooding will likely be danger in small, high-altitude drainages in northern Colorado, he said. Mountain snows have mostly melted in southern Colorado essentially eliminating flood danger there, he said.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)