Monsoon Brings More Relief To Drought-Stricken SE Colorado
DENVER (CBS4) - The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows a bit more improvement in southeast Colorado over the past week.
Slow-moving thunderstorms dropped up to 5 inches of rain across the region between July 14-18th. Areas around Rocky Ford and La Junta saw widespread flash flooding.
The rain allowed some areas of extreme drought across eastern Las Animas, and portions of Crowley, Otero and southern Lincoln counties, to be reduced down a category, to severe.
While there is still a long way to go before this area is out of the woods, the pockets of improvement that have shown up this summer, help keep hope alive, especially for those who live there.
In parts of western Colorado, drought conditions have declined over the past few weeks. There is now an area of extreme drought creeping into extreme southern Montezuma and La Plata counties.
The following maps show how drought conditions have changed across Colorado over the past week and since the first week of May.