Dust Covers Colorado Mountains

And interesting article from CBS4Denver today. Dust has traveled from a large dust storm in Arizona and deposited in the high country. Snow specialist Dan Moroz warns this could be bad news for Colorado, pointing out that the dust and snow mix is "a darker color so it absorbs more energy, it becomes wet and it has two different problems. One is it can cause wet-snow avalanches, but it can also help accelerate the melting of the snowpack". Accelerated melting could lead to drier conditions earlier in the summer and make for a long fire season. The more immediate concern is the increased threat of avalanches - which this time of year are especially dangerous as the snow is much heavier and wetter.
The image is of the dust storm in Arizona. (source: CBS4Denver.com).