Drought — Central Colorado River Basin, Colorado

2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31 · Central Colorado River Basin, Colorado

Event narrative

At the beginning of the month of January, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Exceptional (D4) Drought covering 5% of Colorado Zone 008 - Central Colorado River Basin. Extreme (D3) Drought covered an additional 40% of the zone, with Severe (D2) covering the remainder. With the 1/21 US Drought Monitor update, the area of Extreme (D3) Drought expanded to cover roughly 85% of the zone, with the coverage of Severe (D2) Drought shrinking to just 10% of the zone. The 5% coverage of Exceptional (D4) Drought remained unchanged. No reports of damages or impacts have been received.

Wider weather episode

The winter of 2025-2026 has been, overall, a dry and warm one. And as such, drought has clung on across eastern Utah and western Colorado, especially across the Central Divide Mountains. Areas in the eastern Uinta mountains have also seen drought linger.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1310605. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.