The U.S. Drought Monitor has once again published their weekly update related to Colorado drought and once again, drought has expanded in the Centennial State.

Per the March 19 report (based on data from March 17), roughly 86 percent of Colorado is considered ‘abnormally dry’ or worse, with about 69 percent of the state being dry enough to be considered in technical drought. While this was ahead of 79 percent of the state being considered ‘abnormally dry’ or worse last week and 64 percent of the state being in drought, drought growth in more severe drought stage three (of four) was minimal and the more severe drought stage four did not see acreage increase, still encompassing 0.83 percent of the state.

Similar to last week, what’s perhaps most notable is that the heart of ski country is where the worst drought is found. The entirety of Eagle County, for example, is at drought stage three (of four) or worse, with about 19 percent of the county at drought stage four – the same as last week. In Summit County, 99.5 percent of acreage is at drought stage three or worse, with roughly 15 percent of the county at drought stage four.

The drought severity and coverage index score for the state (DSCI) is currently 209. The last time the score was above that was July 26, 2022, when it was at 219. In March 2021, that score peaked at 360 – the last year the score was at 209 or higher in March.

As of March 20, statewide snowpack is at 53 percent of the norm for the date – another daily record low per the USDA report. In recent days, a downtrend of snowpack appears to have started, which may signal that the snowpack peak has already been hit for the season with more dry days ahead.

According to OpenSnow, no ski areas in Colorado are expected to get snow over the next five days.

Explore more data from the U.S. Drought Monitor here.

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