Heavy rain across eastern Colorado brought some of the largest one-week drought improvements of the season, but exceptional drought continues to blanket much of the high country, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The map, released Thursday, Oct. 8, by the National Drought Mitigation Center, is valid as of Tuesday, Oct. 6. Statewide, 8 percent of Colorado is in exceptional drought (D4) and 24 percent is in extreme drought (D3), down slightly from last week.

Snowpack

The 2027 water year began Oct. 1, so Colorado’s mountain snowpack is only now starting to build. The first measurable snow of the season typically arrives in October, and for the moment there is little to measure. What matters is the starting point: the state enters the new water year with 71 percent of its area in at least moderate drought, and with the driest mountain basins still showing exceptional drought.

Those conditions leave little cushion for the winter ahead. Soils and streams across the high country are starting the season dry, which means early snowmelt next spring would have to refill depleted ground before it could boost reservoirs and rivers. At this time last year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, no part of Colorado was in exceptional drought and 14 percent was in extreme drought.

Drought Conditions

The deepest drought remains in the northern and central mountains, where the U.S. Drought Monitor shows exceptional drought covering nearly all of Eagle County (100 percent in D4) and most of Summit County (88 percent in D4 and 12 percent in D3) and Pitkin County (80 percent in D4 and 20 percent in D3). In Grand County, 54 percent is in exceptional drought and 42 percent is in extreme drought. In Routt County, 26 percent is in exceptional drought, 33 percent is in extreme drought and 41 percent is in severe drought (D2).

Farther north, extreme drought reaches into Jackson County, where 11 percent is in D3 and 42 percent is in D2, and Moffat County, where 6 percent is in D3 and 41 percent is in D2, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Neither county has exceptional drought.

The relief came in the east. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s narrative said widespread heavy precipitation led to robust improvement across eastern Colorado, with numerous locations reporting 3 to locally more than 6 inches of rain. That was enough to support two-category improvements in parts of southeastern Colorado. Precipitation dropped off sharply north of a line from central Colorado toward northeastern Nebraska, and the only areas of deterioration in the High Plains region were in northeastern Colorado and part of north-central Wyoming, which stayed north and west of the heaviest rain.

Statistics

Compared with last week, the share of Colorado with no drought or dryness rose from 9 percent to 16 percent, while abnormally dry conditions (D0) increased from 9 percent to 13 percent. Moderate drought (D1) fell from 24 percent to 16 percent, severe drought (D2) slipped from 23 percent to 22 percent, extreme drought (D3) eased from 25 percent to 24 percent, and exceptional drought (D4) dropped from 10 percent to 8 percent.

A year ago, on Oct. 7, 2025, 46 percent of Colorado was free of drought and dryness, 9 percent was abnormally dry, 10 percent was in moderate drought, 20 percent was in severe drought, 14 percent was in extreme drought, and none of the state was in exceptional drought.

Just over 4,200,000 Colorado residents live in a drought-impacted area. Colorado’s 2023 population was estimated at 5,877,610.

Drought categories include (ranked from least to most severe) abnormally dry (D0), moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3), and exceptional (D4) drought.