Drought in Upper Gunnison River Valley, Colorado

The status of the drought improved across some of the zone through the month of July. The severe (D2) drought improved to the abnormally dry to moderate (D0 to D1) category over the eastern portion of the zone. Meanwhile, the extreme (D3) drought continued over the far northwest portion of the zone with the severe drought persisting elsewhere.

A prolonged monsoon pattern persisted across much of the region the last couple of weeks of July. This led to cooler and unsettled conditions and brought some much needed precipitation to the Western Slope. As a result, drought conditions improved by one or more categories across many zones by the end of the month.