Drought — Flattop Mountains, Colorado

2026-01-21 to 2026-01-31 · Flattop Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

With the 1/21 US Drought Monitor update, an area of Extreme (D3) Drought had expanded into Colorado Zone 013 - Flattop Mountains. This area of Extreme (D3) Drought covered 10% of the zone, with 80% of the zone under Severe (D2) Drought, and 10% under Moderate (D1) Drought. These drought conditions remained unchanged through the end of the month. No reports of impacts or damages related to this drought expansion have been received.

Wider weather episode

As the month of January continued to be generally drier and warmer than normal, drought began to expand outward from the core of Exceptional (D4) Drought in the central Colorado Divide.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1310608. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.