With the repeated strong spring winds, we have a very prominent dust layer on the remaining snow surfaces. This layer changes the albedo of the surface, causes the snow to absorb more of the incoming solar radiation, leads to increased melting and allows spring runoff to occur even more rapidly. This phenomena is challenging on many fronts in managing water in the west and seems to be almost a yearly occurrence. Check out this website for some interesting info about the Colorado Dust on Snow Program.