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Colorado Drought Being Wiped Out By Robust Snowpack

DENVER (CBS4) - As snow has piled up in many parts of Colorado in recent weeks, the percentage of the state experiencing drought has declined while snowpack numbers continue to increase. The weekly drought monitor published each Thursday morning showed a dramatic 7% drop when it comes to the percentage of Colorado experiencing at least moderate drought.

As of this week, only 44% of Colorado is experiencing at least moderate drought while about 72% of the state is still considered at least "abnormally dry" which is the precursor to drought. A week ago almost 78% of the state was abnormally dry.

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(source: CBS)

Areas that continue to experience drought are located entirely in the southern and western regions of the state. A large portion of the Eastern Plains is also considered abnormally dry.

For Denver, the northern Front Range from Castle Rock to Fort Collins, there has been no stage of drought for 14 consecutive weeks. Part of reason why is because of the eight river basins in Colorado, the South Platte basin continues to have the healthiest snowpack.

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(source: CBS)

The statewide average snowpack is 116% of normal but in the South Platte basin, which included the entire Denver metro area, it's 131% of normal.

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(credit: CBS)

Recent snow at lower elevations has also help to eradicate drought and keep it away. Through Feb. 12, Denver has received 45.7 inches of snow this season which is 12.2 inches above normal through this point in the season. Just this week, 1.8 inches of snow fell on Monday followed by a trace of snow on Tuesday and 5.0 inches on Wednesday.

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(source: CBS)
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