Colorado Drought Worsens Despite Recent Rain And Snow

DENVER (CBS4) - After rain and snow spread across virtually all of Colorado earlier this week, the weekly drought update released Thursday morning did not capture any improvement. And in some parts of the state, drought actually worsened since last week.

The new drought numbers for Colorado were calculated on Tuesday (June 9) just after a significant dose of precipitation hit Colorado. So it's possible any improvement will be delayed until next week.

For now, more than 75% of Colorado is experiencing at least "abnormally dry" conditions which is the precursor to drought. About 64% of the state is experiencing at least moderate drought including the I-70 mountain corridor east of Vail Pass. Nearly 50% of Colorado has at least severe drought including cites such as Pueblo and Grand Junction. And just over 25% of the state is experiencing extreme drought which is the second worse drought category available. Lamar, Trinidad, Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, and Durango are all within the extreme drought area.

Just two months ago, on April 11, 2020, only a very small section of Colorado was experiencing severe drought and there was nothing worse in the state.

The combination of a serious slowdown in spring snow especially in the southern mountains and long gaps between rain in May and so far in June have contributed to the worsening drought.

Even with the rain that feel earlier this week in Denver, the city is still below normal with precipitation for the month, the season, and the year.

Bottom line, Colorado needs more moisture. Especially for areas south of Highway 50!