Summit County smashed another high-temperature record today and Lake Dillon has already thawed, not even two months after it finally froze.
The record-keeping weather station in Dillon hit 71 degrees Fahrenheit around 2 p.m., smashing the record of 62 degrees from 2012. This is the sixth time in seven days Summit has set a record and the third time in six days the county has topped 70 degrees. Before this March, that had not happened once in 115+ years of record keeping.
Summit’s Hottest in History (March 26)
– 2012, 1953 (tie)… 62 degrees Fahrenheit
– 1999… 58 degrees
– 1998, 1956 (tie)… 57 degrees
Out on Dillon Reservoir the Dillon Ice Melt device fell through the slushy surface sometime yesterday, March 25. That is 17 days earlier than the old record, also from 2012, when it plunged into the water on April 11. The Rotary Club of Summit County has been tracking ice melt on the reservoir since 1986.
The reservoir froze on Jan. 26 this year, shy of the all-time latest freeze in 1981 by five days.
Shrinking slopes
Summit ski areas are doing what they can to manage a brutally short and hot season.
Breckenridge Nordic Center closed for the season today. The crew there had been shooting for this Sunday, March 29.
This Sunday will be the final day for Pali Chair at A-Basin. The annual Pali Enduro, where skiers lap the chair for 10 hours straight, is still happening with an apres party and fundraiser. The Basin team is brainstorming some other on-snow challenge for its 37th anniversary.
Keystone Resort is closing one week earlier than expected on Easter Sunday, April 5.
For now, the remaining ski resorts are holding firm to their original closing dates:
– Loveland Ski Area, early May
– Breckenridge, May 10
– Copper Mountain, May 10
– A-Basin, early to mid-June