Colorado's snowpack is getting closer to normal after an unseasonably cool and wet April. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service said Monday that snow surveys on May 1 showed the statewide snowpack percentage climbed to 83 percent of the median, up from 74 percent on April 1.

For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures.

Colorado’s cloud-seeding program for the central mountains ended April 10, just as a series of strong spring storms rolled into the area.

Like a pitcher taking the mound on opening day, Frank Gehrke gets the spotlight in California every early April.

Watering the lawn in Bayfield would be restricted to alternate days and to the hours between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. under a proposal to be considered by the town’s Board of Trustees during its April 16 meeting.

New Mexico is facing a potentially devastating wildfire season this year after experiencing record-setting fires during the last two years. This season is shaping up to be one of the worst as a decade of drought drains moisture from forest fuels and average temperatures continue to rise, The Albuquerque Journal reported.

The prospect of a dry, warm summer has officials doing as much as possible to minimize chances of wildfires. They remember too well last year when wildfires burned more than 39,000 acres in Southwest Colorado.

Heading into April, Colorado water managers say snowfall the next few weeks would have to be more than twice of normal for the snowpack to reach the average peak snowpack, which typically happens April 8. A big swath of the high country is still classified as being in extreme drought.