Drought — Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

2025-09-01 to 2025-09-30 · Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

At the beginning of the month of September, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Exceptional (D4) Drought as covering roughly 10% of Colorado Zone 004 - Elkhead and Park Mountains. The remaining 90% of the zone were under Extreme (D3) Drought conditions. With the 9/3 Drought Monitor update, the area of Exceptional (D4) Drought was removed, with the areal coverage of Extreme (D3) Drought reduced to 50% of the zone. With the 9/10 Drought Monitor update, the area of Extreme (D3) Drought was reduced further, to covering just 25% of the zone. From this point to the end of the month, there was no substantial change to drought conditions in the zone.

Wider weather episode

The month of September continued to run above normal in terms of temperatures, and below normal in terms of precipitation. However, there were a few periods of heavy rain across the region, particularly around September 12th, and again at the end of the month, which helped to improve drought conditions across the region. A dry end to the month did allow for some worsening drought around the Four Corners.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1295034. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.