# John Martin Reservoir State Park

John Martin Reservoir State Park is a state park in Colorado. It contains John Martin Reservoir, which is the second largest body of water in Colorado by capacity. It is also known for being a prime birdwatching location. Bent County, Colorado has been documented to have over 400 different species of birds. The namesake reservoir of the park is created by a 118-foot tall (36 m) and 2.6-mile long dam (4.2 km), which goes by the name of John Martin Dam.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials released thirty black-footed ferrets into a prairie dog colony in the nearby Southern Planes Preserve in 2022.

## Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, John Martin Dam has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded at John Martin Dam was 115 °F (46.1 °C) on July 20, 2019, while the coldest temperature recorded was −27 °F (−32.8 °C) on January 30, 1949, January 18–19, 1984 and February 15, 2021. The 115 °F (46.1 °C) reading is the highest reliably measured temperature ever recorded in the state of Colorado.
Climate data for John Martin Dam, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1941–present :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 79 (26) | 83 (28) | 90 (32) | 95 (35) | 103 (39) | 111 (44) | 115 (46) | 111 (44) | 106 (41) | 99 (37) | 87 (31) | 79 (26) | 115 (46) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 66.7 (19.3) | 72.4 (22.4) | 82.9 (28.3) | 88.5 (31.4) | 96.3 (35.7) | 103.5 (39.7) | 105.8 (41.0) | 102.8 (39.3) | 99.5 (37.5) | 91.5 (33.1) | 78.7 (25.9) | 67.5 (19.7) | 107.0 (41.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 46.3 (7.9) | 50.3 (10.2) | 60.8 (16.0) | 69.0 (20.6) | 78.7 (25.9) | 90.4 (32.4) | 94.7 (34.8) | 92.2 (33.4) | 84.8 (29.3) | 71.7 (22.1) | 58.1 (14.5) | 46.5 (8.1) | 70.3 (21.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 31.3 (−0.4) | 35.1 (1.7) | 44.8 (7.1) | 53.3 (11.8) | 63.4 (17.4) | 74.6 (23.7) | 79.4 (26.3) | 77.2 (25.1) | 68.8 (20.4) | 54.9 (12.7) | 42.4 (5.8) | 32.0 (0.0) | 54.8 (12.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 16.3 (−8.7) | 19.9 (−6.7) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 37.7 (3.2) | 48.1 (8.9) | 58.8 (14.9) | 64.0 (17.8) | 62.2 (16.8) | 52.7 (11.5) | 38.0 (3.3) | 26.6 (−3.0) | 17.5 (−8.1) | 39.2 (4.0) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −0.6 (−18.1) | 2.5 (−16.4) | 12.1 (−11.1) | 23.0 (−5.0) | 33.6 (0.9) | 46.2 (7.9) | 53.9 (12.2) | 51.7 (10.9) | 38.7 (3.7) | 22.7 (−5.2) | 9.1 (−12.7) | −0.6 (−18.1) | −6.7 (−21.5) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −27 (−33) | −27 (−33) | −22 (−30) | 12 (−11) | 21 (−6) | 37 (3) | 45 (7) | 35 (2) | 18 (−8) | −1 (−18) | −12 (−24) | −22 (−30) | −27 (−33) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.24 (6.1) | 0.28 (7.1) | 0.71 (18) | 1.23 (31) | 1.62 (41) | 1.92 (49) | 2.35 (60) | 2.05 (52) | 1.02 (26) | 0.98 (25) | 0.39 (9.9) | 0.36 (9.1) | 13.15 (334.2) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 1.7 (4.3) | 2.4 (6.1) | 1.4 (3.6) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.9 (2.3) | 2.9 (7.4) | 9.7 (24.72) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 47.5 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 3.8 |
| Source 1: NOAA ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service ||||||||||||||