Western Colorado Drought Is One For The Record Books

Western Colorado 2018 is the 24th driest on record.

That may not sound that bad. The problem is that the western slope has suffered under back-to-back dry years. Together, they're made for a difficult situation in western Colorado. A reminder, the City of Grand Junction is under mandatory restrictions on outdoor watering. City residents that use city water for their lawns and gardens are only allowed two days of watering per week. That restriction will continue for the rest of September and the first week of October.

"What we are sitting at right now as of Aug. 31 is 4.32" of precipitation," says Tom Renwick with the National Weather Service. "But the driest year up to this date is 1.73" back in 1972." Wow, that was hardly any rain at all. The 4.32 year-to-date amount makes 2018 the 24th driest on record in Grand Junction. That dates back to the earliest years of record keeping in the late 1800's.

You may recall my post last week about the return of El Niño.  If this weather phenomenon makes an appearance that should mean some relief for the western US. "Come September, October, November we should have above chances for precipitation," Renwick said. "And September is the wettest month, climatologically speaking, in the Grand Junction area." We shall see. Until then, continue to conserve and pray for rain. We need it.

Credit KKCO11News