{"id":13566,"date":"2026-02-11T01:06:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T08:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-dismal-snow-accumulation-in-cortez-equipment-sits-idle\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:38:52","slug":"with-dismal-snow-accumulation-in-cortez-equipment-sits-idle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/with-dismal-snow-accumulation-in-cortez-equipment-sits-idle\/","title":{"rendered":"With dismal snow accumulation in Cortez, equipment sits idle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Snowfall
Snowfall levels at this point in the season are more than 70% below average. Above, a snow-removal operation in 2019. (Journal file photo)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Snow removal equipment in Cortez sits idle as a dry and warm winter haunts the region. While rain showers are expected this week<\/a>, significant snowfall is not on the horizon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe budgeted $30,000,\u201d Casey Simpson, the interim director of the city Public Works department, said of the snow removal budget for fiscal year 2026. \u201cWe haven\u2019t spent anything out of this account yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

By this time in the winter season, Cortez typically receives 20 to 25 inches of snow; however, the season snowfall total is at 6 inches, according to forecaster Braeden Winters of the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past 20 years, only three times has Cortez had this low a snowfall at this time in the season,\u201d Winters said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Cortez budgeted $27,960 for snow removal but spent a meager $1,869. The excess was reabsorbed into a general city fund, according to Simpson. The city may use excess funds at the end of this year to refurbish outdated snow removal equipment.<\/p>\n

However, some businesses that provide snow removal services will struggle with the opposite problem.<\/p>\n

Ryan Saunders, owner of the Cortez-based landscaping business Sprinkler Pros, said snow removal accounts for 15% of his business. The lack of snow means no early mornings for his crews but the drop in business still hurts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult that we haven\u2019t gotten any,\u201d Saunders said, adding that \u2013 without practice \u2013 employees will have difficulty learning and navigating their typical routes. He\u2019s not optimistic about the spring snowfall and worries about the consequences that will last beyond the winter season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all we can hope for because then we\u2019ll get into the season where everyone needs water,\u201d Saunders said. \u201cWe\u2019re very reliant on water down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Winters, the lack of snowfall is already evident in the water systems surrounding Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the some of the river basins around the area, the water that we received from snowfall is on the very low side,\u201d Winters said. \u201cWe\u2019re in the bottom 10% of historical records.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an average year, Cortez could expect another 10 inches but \u2013 fortunately for the city budget and unfortunately for snow removal crews \u2013 it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still time to build back the snow totals,\u201d Winters said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a lot of snow to catch up to what they normally see.\u201d<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

expects to be under budget; snow removal businesses struggle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19042,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13566\/revisions\/19042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13566"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}