Per a U.S. Drought Monitor report released on April 9, drought has continued to worsen in Colorado.

As of data collected two days prior to the publication of the report, 95 percent of Colorado is now experiencing some level of drought, up from 89 percent the week prior. In places where technical drought isn’t present, abnormal dryness is – often a precursor of drought to come. Two key changes between this week’s data and last week’s data include how a portion of the Eastern Plains that was previously ‘abnormally dry’ is now in drought, as well as how a little bit of drought relief occurred in southwest Colorado, dropping part of the region from drought stage three to drought stage two.

One key area that’s not experiencing drought is the vast majority of El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs. Just four percent of El Paso County is in drought, with this drought located in the county’s sparsely populated northeast corner.

As has been previously reported, the most severe drought continues to be present in the northwest quadrant of the state, though some areas where stage four ‘exceptional’ drought is present are found in southwest and southern Colorado, too.

As of April 10, the statewide snowpack is at 21 percent of what’s typical for the date – on par with what’s present around May 30 during the typical year.

Explore additional drought statistics here.

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