climate

Drought still impacts much of Colorado despite recent improvements.

After a month of largely unchanged drought conditions across Colorado, portions of southwest and south central Colorado saw welcome relief.

Exceptional drought, the most severe category, shifted to extreme conditions in central Montezuma County.

Colorado can expect more of the same, weather-wise, in 2019.

Western Colorado is starting to see big improvements in drought conditions.

Too much salt in the soil can ruin crops and render fields useless for farming.

Over one-third of Colorado remains in the two worst drought categories.

Will climate change put an end to skiing?

This week's drought monitor update showed only one small area of improvement in north central Colorado.

Much of Boulder County, which had been abnormally dry, shifted to drought-free conditions. The nearly-perfect circle of improvement left behind strips of abnormally dry areas along the western and eastern borders. Much of the area has a foot more snow than is typical for this time of year.

While changes were slight for Colorado's drought conditions this week, early snowpack hints at above normal amounts of water for some areas.

In south central Colorado, extreme drought was replaced with severe conditions in western Las Animas and southern Huerfano counties. Slivers of several north central counties saw abnormally dry conditions overtake moderate drought.

Drought was unchanged across the remainder of the state, including southwest Colorado, which continues to suffer under exceptional drought - the worst category.

A few winter storms over the previous week have helped generate new improvements for Colorado's ongoing drought.

Exceptional drought, the worst category, receded from portions of northern Costilla and western Huerfano counties in southern Colorado.