95% of Colorado is now in drought, and it’s getting worse

If it feels like Colorado has been running on empty this year, that’s because it essentially has. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data released this week, 95% of the state is now experiencing some level of drought — a nearly 8% jump from just one week ago — with about 5 million Coloradans now living under drought conditions. Roughly one-third of the state is classified under Extreme or Exceptional Drought, the two most severe categories on the scale, with only a few pockets of the Eastern Plains escaping the designation entirely. The grim update was a stark contrast to what forecasters had actually predicted — the Monthly Drought Outlook released at the end of May had expected some improvement for June.

The roots of the problem go back to a winter that basically didn’t show up. Colorado’s snowpack fell to around 40% of normal levels — among the lowest readings since modern records began four decades ago — and spring rains simply weren’t enough to make up the difference. “We’ve been stacking up these deficits over the course of months,” said Allie Mazurek, engagement climatologist with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University. “Don’t lose sight of that fact when we have one or two precipitation events come through. We need this to happen multiple times.” Gov. Jared Polis has already activated Phase 3 of the state’s Drought Response Plan, and Front Range water districts are eyeing potential rate hikes as reservoirs feel the strain.

The downstream impacts are real and growing. Wildfire risk across Colorado is elevated heading into summer, burn bans are already popping up across the state, and water restrictions are being put in place in communities across the Front Range. The hope now rests on a wetter-than-normal summer monsoon season and — fingers crossed — a much snowier winter ahead. For now though, Colorado is thirsty, and there’s no quick fix in sight.