A wetter-than-normal July brought some much-needed relief to widespread drought conditions across the state, especially along the Front Range and southeastern plains.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that while more than 90% of Colorado is still “abnormally dry” or experiencing “moderate” to “severe” drought, the percentage of areas experiencing “severe” to “exceptional” drought has dropped to 27% from 64% in mid-May, before the summer monsoonal season.

Klint Skelly, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Pueblo, said the drought risk in the mountainous areas west of Denver and in the Sangre de Christo Range has reduced almost completely, thanks to an “impressive” monsoon season so far.

July is typically both the hottest and the wettest month of the year in El Paso County, as the seasonal monsoon dumps more than half of the area’s yearly rainfall during the summer months. In Colorado Springs, July saw roughly 5.4 inches of rainfall, more than 2 inches more than the monthly average.

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Roughly four times more rain fell in July than in June, which only saw 1.37 inches of rainfall, nearly 1 inch short of the June normal.

In other areas of the county, though, the nature of those same heavy rains partly contributed to stagnant drought conditions, Skelly said. Rain fell in short, substantial bouts rather than in gradual amounts, causing water to run off.

“With how quickly we got the [precipitation], and how quickly it runs off, it doesn’t really allow it to infiltrate into our aquifers and into our soils,” Skelly said. 

Currently, drought conditions remain critical in the far Western Slope and the plains east of Denver, and are “extreme” in the northeast, southeast and southwest corners of the state.

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But in the face of this dryness, Skelly said August could see “above-average chances for above-average precipitation” as monsoon plumes are expected to build in the coming days.

So far, the Colorado Springs area is “right on track” for normal August rainfall amounts, he said. This month has seen about a one-quarter inch of rain, just an inch shy of the normal precipitation totals for the whole month.

According to Skelly, “one good storm” could close that gap, which is likely because of strong chances of showers and thunderstorms beginning Monday and continuing into late next week.

“We’re expecting a cold front to come through and interact with some of that monsoonal moisture, which would give us the opportunity for a heavier rain,” Skelly said.

Despite the remaining drought in the Western Slope, Dennis Phillips, a meteorologist at the NWS in Grand Junction, said wildfire danger has still been reduced there with the monsoon weather.

“There’s been lots of fire starts, with lightning strikes, but they haven’t been able to spread like they have been in a super-dry season,” Phillips said.

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Steve Hodanish, a senior meteorologist at the Pueblo station, said fire dangers have largely subsided in the area after a spring season of largely unprecedented dryness, but could return before the end of the year if rains don’t return after next week.

“Everything is pretty green and we’re not expecting any strong, sustained winds, so the fire concern, for at least the next week or so, is low,” Hodanish said. “As long as we get moisture, the fire risk will be low. But if we dry out, if we have a sustained period of no (precipitation), then the fire weather concerns will increase.”