Drought — West Elk and Sawatch Mountains, Colorado

2025-05-27 to 2025-05-31 · West Elk and Sawatch Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Beginning on May 27th, the US Drought Monitor expanded an area of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions into the far western portion of the West Elk and Sawatch Mountains (CO Zone 012). This area covers less than 10% of the zone, and remained unchanged from the 27th through the end of the month.

Wider weather episode

After seeing a below normal snowpack in the winter of 2024-2025, and after a hot and dry month of May, Extreme (D3) Drought expanded into portions of the Colorado Central Divide Mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1267590. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.