Grand Junction residents woke to thick clouds Monday morning, but the gray blanket hides a bigger story: another week of spring-like temperatures in the dead of winter. Highs will push into the mid-50s all week with zero chance of snow and almost no chance of rain.

The mild streak that began in January is not only holding, it is strengthening.

Monday Starts Gray, Ends Mild

Clouds rolled in overnight Sunday and stuck around through the morning commute. By afternoon, partial sunshine returned across the Grand Valley.

Temperatures still climbed well above normal. Grand Junction reached 54 degrees, Delta hit 55, Montrose touched 50, Cortez topped out at 54, and Moab warmed to 54. Morning lows ranged from the mid-20s to lower 30s, roughly 10 degrees warmer than a typical early February night.

The clouds kept the day from feeling as warm as the thermometer claimed, but the numbers do not lie: this is the kind of February day people move to western Colorado to enjoy.

Daylight Explodes, Temperatures Follow

February is the month when winter starts losing its grip fastest in the northern hemisphere.

From February 1 to February 29 this year, Grand Junction gains a full hour, four minutes, and forty seconds of daylight. That is nearly twice the daylight gained during all of January.

Normal high temperatures jump from 41 degrees on February 1 to 52 degrees by months end. This year, we are already there, and still climbing.

Stephen Bowers, Chief Meteorologist at KJCT, told viewers Sunday night the warm pattern shows no signs of breaking through at least Thursday. After that, models hint at a weak system around February 11-12 that could bring light rain to the valleys and a quick shot of snow to the high country.

The Week at a Glance

Here is the detailed seven-day outlook for Grand Junction and surrounding areas (as of Monday morning, February 5, 2024):

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction currently shows no precipitation through Saturday and only a 20-30% chance of light showers or mountain snow next Tuesday night into Wednesday.

What This Warmth Means Right Now

Ski areas in Telluride, Crested Butte, and Aspen continue to struggle with thin cover at lower elevations. Wolf Creek remains the bright spot in the state thanks to its higher base.

Fruit growers in the Palisade and Grand Junction area welcome the warmth. Bud break is still weeks away, and the lack of deep freezes protects next seasons peach and wine grape crops.

Fire danger stays low for now because of lingering mountain snowpack, but the ongoing drought across the Four Corners region has not improved. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows 100% of Mesa County in at least moderate drought.

The Bigger Picture Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud

Western Colorado has recorded only trace amounts of precipitation since early December. The snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin sat at 79% of median as of Monday, February 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

That number will drop quickly if the warm, dry pattern continues through February. Lake Powell and Lake Mead depend on spring runoff, and another low-snow year would deepen the long-term water crisis affecting 40 million people downstream.

Yet on the ground in Grand Junction, people are walking dogs in short sleeves, washing cars in driveways, and firing up backyard grills in February. The mood is undeniably cheerful.

This is the strange new reality of Colorado winters: worry about water one minute, enjoy 57-degree sunshine the next.

Tell us in the comments: are you loving these bonus spring days in February, or does the lack of snow make you nervous for summer water supplies? Either way, get outside this week, western Colorado does not hand out many February weeks this nice.