High Plains Drought Summary

Most areas of the High Plains were free of drought or saw little change in current status, the exception being Colorado, where heavy snow continued to build snowpack but also caused avalanches. With well-above average precipitation in February and adequate precipitation in March to date, improvements were made across the Yampa/White Basin. The Gunnison Basin, already well past its normal seasonal peak, received an additional 2-4 inches of precipitation over the last week. Severe drought (D2) improved to moderate (D1) over the San Juan Basin east through the San Luis Valley, where the San Juans have received well-above-average precipitation and basin-wide snowpack is already past the normal seasonal peak. North central Colorado into Carbon County, Wyoming saw as much as 2-category drought improvement to return to drought-free conditions. In this region reservoirs are expected to fill and there is deep snow, unfortunately with problematic avalanches.

Read the full drought summary