Severe drought conditions expand in Colorado as hot, dry weather continues

As we close out July, it's been a very dry month. Denver International Airport has recorded 0.64 inches of rainfall -- well below the monthly average of 1.92 inches. 

Portions of Colorado's Front Range are classified as abnormally dry, shown in yellow on the drought map. 

But the worst conditions are on the western slope of Colorado, where extreme drought has expanded by 3% in just the past week, thanks to hot, dry weather. Severe and moderate drought have also increased slightly. 

Looking ahead to the fall, the Climate Prediction Center is forecasting drier and warmer than average conditions across most of Colorado from August through October. 

With warmer and drier weather expected across Colorado drought conditions are likely to get worse as we head into the fall.