September rains shrink Colorado drought footprint – Denver Gazette

September rains shrink Colorado drought footprint  Denver Gazette

Reports from both the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University and the U.S. Drought Monitor show heavy rains from Hurricane Polo played a significant role in reducing Colorado's drought profile Reports from two monitoring entities show heavy rains from Hurricane Polo played a significant role in reducing Colorado’s drought profile — at least in the southern parts of the state. Hurricane Polo had begun as a tropical disturbance that underwent a “rapid intensification” that meteorologists described as “jaw-dropping” and “absolute insanity.” The latest drought monitor report showed that, a week ago, only 8.94% of the state was completely drought-free. On Thursday, that number shot up to 15.62%. The figure is also up from the 1.68% of the state that was out of drought just three months ago.

A year ago, before the disastrous lack of snowfall, particularly in the first few months of 2026, the drought monitor noted that 45.82% of the state was drought-free. The U.S. Drought Monitor is a service of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Meanwhile, the Colorado State University’s Colorado Climate Center reported September was “extremely wet in southern Colorado, with multiple surges of subtropical moisture in the second half of the