National Weather Service Text Product Display

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS Grand Junction, CO
Versions: 1 2
430
AXUS75 KGJT 162012
DGTGJT
COC007-029-033-037-045-051-053-067-077-081-083-085-091-097-103-
107-111-113-UTC009-019-037-047-232015-

Drought Information Statement
National Weather Service Grand Junction CO
212 PM MDT Fri Apr 16 2021

...DROUGHT CONTINUES OVER WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH...

.SYNOPSIS:
Extreme to Exceptional Drought categories continue over western
Colorado and eastern Utah.

Water year 2021 precipitation has ranged from below to well below
normal. In addition, last years spring snow accumulations were
also well below normal for portions of southwestern Colorado. The
dry conditions have continued into the winter months of 2021.
March was above normal for many locations but then early April
dried out again with below normal preciptation.

Areas in D4...Exceptional Drought...include portions of
Montezuma, Dolores, San Miguel, La Plata, Archuleta, Montrose,
Delta, Mesa, Eagle, Garfield, Rio Blanco, Moffat and Routt
counties. For eastern Utah, all or portions of San Juan, Uintah
and Grant counties remain in exceptional drought.


Areas in D3...Extreme Drought...include Hinsdale and San Juan and
portions of Pitkin, Ouray, Gunnison counties. Other smaller
portions of previous mentioned counties also in D3. For eastern
Utah, large portions of Grant and Daggett counties are in D3.
Smaller areas of Uintah and San Juan are also in D3.

The continued drought severity is due to low soil moisture,
lack of snow pack, well below normal precipitation, and lower
stream flows.

.CLIMATE SUMMARY:
Fall precipitation and winter snowfall has been below to much
below normal for western Colorado and eastern Utah. March had near
to above normal snowfall over the region although it didn`t make
up the total precipitation deficit. April has started out dry.
This continues a prolonged dry period described below.

Fall of 2019 precipitation was well below normal leading to low
soil moisture content across the southwestern Colorado region
going into the 2020 winter season. Snow pack was near normal for
the majority of the winter season but then started to quickly
decrease in the middle of spring. Dry conditions for both the
mountains and valleys in southwestern Colorado and the west
central valleys became entrenched in April and continued through
early July. Early summer rains have been sorely lacking keeping
precipitation well below normal over a large portion of western
Colorado.

.HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK:
Average seven-day stream flow has ranged from below normal to much
below normal with the 28 day average also ranging from below
normal to much below normal for western Colorado and eastern Utah.
The only exception is near normal flow release from Flaming Gorge
Reservoir.

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS:
Impacts include low soil moisture, lower stream flows, and dry
vegetation heading into the winter season. Wild fire start in a
valley location during the winter. Fire danger is becoming more of
an issue with dry fuels at lower elevations. Ranchers are having
to cull cattle herds.

.DROUGHT MITIGATION ACTIONS:
None reported.

.PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK:
A progressive pattern during March brought an increase of
precipitation to the region. April started drier than normal and
is forecast to be below normal. Into the early spring, there is a
better than average chance of above normal temperatures and
better chances of below normal precipitation across western
Colorado and eastern Utah.

Current observations show that the ENSO cycle is and will
continue in a La Nina condition through the mid-spring. Chances
increase that conditions will transition to neutral late spring
into summer.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE:
This product will be updated if necessary in response to
significant changes in conditions.

&&

.RELATED WEB SITES:
Additional information on current drought conditions may be found
at the following web addresses:

US Drought Monitor:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

US Drought Information System:
http://www.drought.gov

NWS Climate Prediction Center
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

NOAA Drought Page:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Drought

National Weather Service:
http://weather.gov/gjt
http://water.weather.gov

US Geological Survey:
http://water.usgs.gov

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
The Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving the
National Weather Service and National Centers for Environmental
Information...the USDA...state and regional center climatologists
and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this
statement has been gathered from NWS and FAA observation sites...
state cooperative extension services...the USDA and USGS.

.QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:
If you have questions or comments about this Drought Information
Statement, please contact:

National Weather Service
Grand Junction, CO WFO
2844 Aviators Way
Grand Junction, CO 81506

$$

as
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office
