Fort Collins drought improves for first time in months
For the first time in two months, Fort Collins isn't in a severe drought.
We're not out of drought yet — the city and most of Larimer County remain in a moderate drought — but the new classification by the U.S. Drought Monitor is good news for Northern Colorado, which has been parched since June and officially entered drought territory in August.
A lot of factors go into the drought classification, including precipitation, soil moisture and stream flows, but it's likely that recent snows in Northern Colorado and the Front Range were a big factor in the drought improvement. The monitor measures four stages of drought as well as abnormal dryness, the precursor to drought.
Thanks to big January snows, Fort Collins is right on the mark for average snowfall from November through mid-January and above the normal amount of precipitation, according to Colorado Climate Center data. The city has received 21.6 inches of snow since November and about 1.7 inches of precipitation, compared to 1981-2010 averages of 21.8 inches and 1.5 inches, respectively.
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Meanwhile, several storms have hit the mountains that feed the South Platte River Basin, the main water supply for Northern Colorado, with 5 to 8 feet of snow since mid-November. That has the snowpack at 152 percent of normal for this time of year as of Friday.
Nearly all of Colorado's eastern half is classified as "abnormally dry" or "moderate drought," except for the drought-free northern tip of Weld County. The northwestern portion of Lincoln County and the southeastern tip of Colorado are the only areas in the state still in severe drought.
Drought seems to be backing off most of the western U.S., including in California, where the northern part of the state has exited drought and drought conditions are improving in the southern half.