A dry January across Colorado and the rest of the Rocky Mountain West has created a dichotomy of water haves and have-nots.

Following a snowy December that boosted northwest Montana’s snowpack to above-average, last month’s dry weather dropped the region’s river basins to low levels as winter continues. Northwest Montana’s snow water equivalent levels (SWE) dipped to about 85% in the Flathead,

British Columbia's latest snow and water supply bulletin says it was "extremely dry" across much of the province last month, with average snowpack measuring 28 per cent below normal as of Feb. 1.