The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center reveals an escalation in drought conditions across Colorado as of May 20. Compared to the previous week (May 13), abnormally dry and drought-affected areas have expanded significantly, raising concerns for agriculture, water resources, and communities statewide.

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Key Findings from the Data:

Increased Drought Coverage:

• The percentage of Colorado under "None" conditions (no drought or abnormal dryness) dropped sharply to 21.15%, down from 29.59% a week prior—a decline of nearly 8.4 percentage points.
• Abnormally Dry Conditions (D0): Rose by 4.5 percentage points, now affecting 31.76% of the state. The movement from drought-free to abnormally dry conditions focused on eastern Colorado.
• Moderate Drought (D1): Increased to 25.78%, up from 24.58%. In northeast Colorado, eastern Washington and western Yuma counties shifted from abnormally dry conditions into moderate drought. A similar change occurred across central Gunnison County in western Colorado.
• Severe Drought (D2): Expanded by 2 percentage points to 16.04%. Much of that increase occurred in La Plata, Archuleta and Hinsdale counties in southwest Colorado.
• Extreme Drought (D3): Climbed by nearly a full point, reaching 5.27%. Extreme drought expanded west toward the Utah border in Mesa and Montrose counties in west central Colorado.

Stable Exceptional Drought

No areas were classified under the highest category of drought (D4) in either time period

Population Impact

An estimated 775,488 Coloradans - about 13% of the state’s population - are now living in drought-affected areas (D1-D3). With May being a critical month for snowmelt-driven filling of reservoirs, the continued expansion of severe and extreme drought zones could strain water supplies during the summer growing season.

Comparative Context

While drought conditions in Colorado improved during the late fall and early weeks of winter, conditions have continued to deteriorate since the start of January.

The state’s drought-free area was at 75 percent at the start of the year, and has fallen to just over 20 percent over the past five months. Drought free and abnormally dry conditions combined covered 90 percent of the state and have since fallen to just over 50 percent of the area. Extreme drought has increased five-fold, from just under one percent to more than five percent. Severe drought has seen a similar increase to over 16 percent. Western Colorado, particularly the southwest, continues to experience the most adverse drought conditions.

Editor’s note: Portions of this article have been augmented with the assistance of Large Language Models for analysis, with human review, editing, and original material.