I am very close to declaring my location Mildly Dry, but keeping it Near Normal for at least this week. There has been a lack of precipitation and with the high winds lately (last couple of weeks at least) the ground is starting to dry. I am seeing some green starting on the occasional grass and forb. No swelling on the buds of brush as of yet. The deer have come through a couple of times this past week browsing on currants and grass/forbs. Not much forage for them, but they look pretty healthy otherwise. Birds continue to frequent the birdbath in my back yard, mostly four of the common corvid species plus some dark-eyed juncos and a few nuthatches. Rivers still appear very low (I always wonder how the fish manage to survive in the pools that are left). Snowpack SWE is still in green, with 6-digit UHC South Platte River at 102% of median and 8-digit UHC Big Thompson River at 108% of median. So the snowpack SWE seems to support a normal winter thus far. There is still plenty of snow in the park (Rocky Mountain National Park) for most winter recreation activities, though the sledding hill at Hidden Valley is looking a bit ragged right now. No indication that fire danger levels have increased, though we are on a fire weather watch, mostly due to the high winds we are experiencing.