Exceptional drought surges across Colorado as Denver reaches record-worst levels

Colorado's drought has taken a sharp turn for the worse. 

Nearly half of the state is now in extreme or exceptional drought, the two most intense categories on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Exceptional drought alone now covers 13.5% of Colorado. 

The statewide numbers are alarming. Denver's are historic. 

Exceptional drought now covers 36.4% of Denver County. The rest of the county is in extreme drought, meaning all of Denver is now experiencing one of the two worst categories. 

This is Denver County's worst reading since weekly Drought Monitor records began on Jan. 4, 2000. 

Before this week, exceptional drought had reached Denver during only one previous stretch, from October 2020 through February 2021. Even then, it covered no more than 1.6% of the county. 

The new 36.4% footprint is more than 22 times larger than Denver's previous record. It is also the first exceptional drought recorded anywhere in the county since Feb. 16, 2021. 

Perspective is important. This is not Colorado's worst statewide drought in the Drought Monitor's 26-year archive. Exceptional drought covered 34.4% of the state during 2002, compared with 13.5% now. 

The bottom line: Colorado's drought is becoming increasingly widespread and intense, while Denver has entered territory never previously recorded by the U.S. Drought Monitor.