- Warnings
- Observations
- Forecasts
- Text Messages
- Forecast Models
- Climate
- Weather Safety
- Education/Outreach
- Information Center
- Contact Us
RSS Feeds
Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
000 AXUS75 KBOU 170637 DGTBOU COC001-005-013-014-019-031-035-039-047-049-057-059-069-073-075-087- 093-095-115-117-121-123-170000 Drought Information Statement National Weather Service Denver CO 1237 AM MDT Fri Sep 17 2021 ...MAJORITY OF THE URBAN CORRIDOR AND NORTHEAST PLAINS ARE NOW ABNORMALLY DRY... High pressure continued over Colorado but monsoonal moisture significantly decreased by early September. Precipitation was below to much below normal the first half of September, except at numerous locations on the eastern plains. In contrast, for the calendar year so far precipitation has generally been near to slightly above normal. .LOCAL AREAS AFFECTED... Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Elbert as well as most of Douglas, Larimer, Lincoln, Morgan, and Weld Counties are now in Abnormally Dry /D0/ conditions. The worst drought though continues in the North Platte & upper Colorado River basins in the high country. Extreme Drought /D3/ remains in western Grand County and along the western border of Jackson County in far north central Colorado. Moderate /D1/ to Severe /D2/ Drought continues in northern Summit County. Much of Washington County and extreme southern Logan County on the northeast plains are in Moderate Drought /D1/. AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS... From the USDA Colorado Crop Progress Report for the week ending September 13th: In northeastern counties, conditions were ideal for fieldwork. Livestock producers began weaning cattle early though in response to dry conditions. Inconsistent moisture and hot temperatures were a primary concern for pasture conditions moving into fall. In east central counties, the fourth cutting of alfalfa moved quickly in areas. Minimal isolated moisture was received. Statewide topsoil and subsoil moisture was 56 and 60 percent short to very short, respectively. WATER SUPPLY... An increasing number of U.S. Geological Survey gages recorded below to much below normal flows by mid-September. Combined reservoir storage increased from 113 to 119 percent of average in the South Platte basin, but fell slightly 91 to 88 percent of average in the upper Colorado River from August 1st to September 1st. CLIMATE SUMMARY... The first half of September has been quite warm with temperatures 2 to 8 degrees above normal. Preliminary NWS Cooperative Observer and Airport precipitation table for September 1st through the 15th follows: Location County 2021 Normal Departure % Normal -------- ------ ----- ------ --------- -------- Above 8000 feet Antero Reservoir Park 0.15 0.63 -0.48 24 Dillon Summit 0.23 0.77 -0.54 30 Georgetown 4S Clear Ck 0.04 0.91 -0.87 4 Georgetown Clear Ck 0.12 0.82 -0.70 15 Grand Lake 6SSW Grand 0.41 0.72 -0.31 57 Grant Park 0.17 0.80 -0.63 21 Lake George 8SW Park 1.21 0.67 +0.54 181 Walden Jackson 0.36 0.66 -0.30 55 6000 to 8000 feet Cheesman Reservoir Douglas 0.88 0.78 +0.10 113 Evergreen Jefferson 0.48 0.87 -0.39 55 Rustic 9WSW Larimer 0.39 0.67 -0.28 58 Virginia Dale 7ENE Larimer 0.46 0.93 -0.47 49 Williams Fork Rsvr Grand 0.92 0.69 +0.23 133 Front Range Urban Corridor Boulder Boulder 0.10 1.03 -0.93 10 Centennial Airport Arapahoe 1.67 0.65 +1.02 257 Denver Intl Airport Denver 0.17 0.66 -0.49 26 Denver downtown Denver 0.01 0.61 -0.60 2 Fort Collins Larimer 0.16 0.70 -0.54 23 Greeley Weld 0.25 0.56 -0.31 45 Lakewood Jefferson 0.02 0.71 -0.69 3 Longmont Boulder 0.11 0.58 -0.47 19 Loveland Larimer 0.41 0.67 -0.26 61 Northglenn Adams 0.14 0.60 -0.46 23 Ralston Reservoir Jefferson 0.00 0.93 -0.93 0 Wheat Ridge Jefferson 0.03 0.70 -0.67 4 Colorado Plains Akron 4E Washington 0.91 0.67 +0.24 136 Briggsdale Weld 0.27 0.68 -0.41 40 Crook Logan 0.40 0.73 -0.33 55 Holyoke Phillips 0.10 0.73 -0.63 14 Leroy 5WSW Logan 0.98 0.65 +0.33 151 Limon Lincoln 0.90 0.57 +0.33 158 Limon 22SSW Elbert 1.00 0.69 +0.31 145 Lindon 5WNW Washington 1.50 0.64 +0.86 234 Sedgwick 5S Sedgwick 0.61 0.68 -0.07 90 Preliminary Cooperative Observer and Airport precipitation totals for the calendar year so far: Location Elevation 2021 Normal Departure % Normal -------- --------- ---- ------ --------- -------- Above 8000 feet Antero Reservoir 8939 9.26 8.76 +0.50 106 Dillon 9065 12.86 11.53 +1.33 112 Georgetown 4S 10020 18.99 17.06 +1.93 111 Georgetown 8520 14.88 14.59 +0.29 102 Grand Lake 6SSW 8288 8.67 10.42 -1.75 83 Grant 8675 14.74 12.54 +2.20 118 Lake George 8SW 8550 12.86 9.67 +3.19 133 Walden 8056 6.20 9.09 -2.89 68 6000 to 8000 feet Cheesman Reservoir 6880 12.51 13.19 -0.68 95 Evergreen 6985 15.53 15.21 +0.32 102 Rustic 9WSW 7700 12.75 10.24 +2.51 125 Virginia Dale 7ENE 7015 13.46 14.12 -0.66 95 Williams Fork Rsvr 7618 10.45 10.48 -0.03 100 Front Range Urban Corridor Boulder 5484 19.58 16.56 +3.02 118 Centennial Airport 5883 15.07 12.50 +2.57 121 Denver Intl Airport 5284 12.11 11.81 +0.30 103 Denver downtown 5228 14.11 12.84 +1.27 110 Fort Collins 5004 13.37 12.69 +0.68 105 Greeley 4715 12.19 11.80 +0.39 103 Lakewood 5640 14.32 14.38 -0.06 100 Longmont 4950 15.06 12.28 +2.78 123 Loveland 5080 15.05 12.34 +2.71 122 Northglenn 5407 14.17 11.64 +2.53 122 Ralston Reservoir 5900 16.24 14.88 +1.36 109 Wheat Ridge 5398 14.98 13.71 +1.27 109 Colorado Plains Akron 4E 4542 16.04 13.61 +2.43 118 Briggsdale 4862 11.02 11.20 -0.18 98 Crook 3709 18.36 14.31 +4.05 128 Holyoke 3780 18.08 15.07 +3.01 120 Leroy 5WSW 4467 14.49 14.52 -0.03 100 Limon 5374 13.29 13.03 +0.26 102 Limon 22SSW 5572 14.71 13.40 +1.31 110 Lindon 5WNW 4851 14.03 13.48 +0.55 104 Sedgwick 5S 3996 16.23 14.73 +1.50 110 OUTLOOKS... Not much precipitation is expected for the next week. There is also a tilt toward below normal precipitation and above normal temperatures in the outlooks through the end of September. RELATED WEB SITES... Additional information on current drought conditions may be found at the following addresses: Local weather...climate and water information: www.weather.gov/bou U.S. Drought Monitor: droughtmonitor.unl.edu NWS Climate Prediction Center Outlooks: www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov Colorado Climate Center Drought Information and Resources: https://climate.colostate.edu/drought_info.html USDA Crop Progress and Condition Reports: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Colorado/Publications /Crop_Progress_&_Condition CWCB Water Availability Task Force Presentations: cwcb.state.co.us/public-information/flood-water-availability-task- forces/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... The U.S. Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving NOAA`s National Weather Service, State and Regional Climate Centers, Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this statement has been gathered from NWS and FAA observation sites, Cooperative Network stations, the Natural Resources Conservation Service SNOTEL Network, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers stream and reservoir gages. CONTACT INFORMATION... If you have questions or comments about this Drought Information Statement, please contact: National Weather Service Forecast Office 325 Broadway Boulder, CO 80305 w-bou.webmaster@noaa.gov $$ tlh
- National Weather Service
- Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office
- Weather Forecast Office Baltimore/Washington
- 43858 Weather Service Rd.
- Sterling, VA 20166
- (571) 888-3500
- Page Author: LWX Webmaster
- Web Master's E-mail: lwx.webmaster@noaa.gov
- Page last modified: Jun 8th, 2021 18:51 UTC