Average summer-month temperatures in Pitkin, Garfield counties up between 2 and 3.5 degrees as runoff comes earlier and streamflows decline.

In studying what led to the March 2019 avalanche cycle, snow scientists are identifying some elements — such as warmer temperatures, wetter air and snow, and more-intense storms — that are not so unusual and are consistent with a warming climate.

Pitkin County is warming, the number of frost-free days is increasing and snowpack is declining, with notable impacts on the underpinning of modern Aspen’s economy: snow and skiing.