A week after drought had stabilized in Colorado, conditions degraded dramatically, particularly for the western half of the state.
Mesa and Delta counites, along with northwest Gunnison County, saw extreme drought replaced by exceptional drought - the worst category - as hot and dry conditions persisted in the area.
Kiowa County will see some of the coolest temperatures in months this weekend, including a low in the 40s not seen since last spring.
Friday's high will be in the mid-70s under clear and sunny skies, which expected to persist throughout the weekend. Overnight, the low will drop to the mid-40s to help mark the first day of fall Saturday.
Temperatures rebound to the low 80s by Saturday afternoon, with the overnight low dropping to around 50. Winds will be out of the south in the 5-15 mile per hour range.
High tides, whipped in by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, shattered boats and buildings in Swansboro, N.C.
AP Photo, File
Rain and thunderstorms that have helped improve drought conditions in eastern Colorado since the end of July largely came to an end last week, while the western half of the state continued to bake under warm temperatures.
Nearly half of Colorado remains in extreme and exceptional drought, the two worst categories. South central and much of the west slope have been suffering under a lack of moisture for most of the year, while the northeast benefited from a late season blizzard and periodic rain to reach drought-free conditions over the summer.
Homes surrounded by water from the flooded Brazos River in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Freeport, Texas, Sept. 1, 2017.
Additional parts have been ordered for an ongoing refurbishment project of the National Weather Service radar site at Pueblo
The site was removed from service Wednesday morning, allowing technicians to replace original breakers and cables with new, modern fuses and cables that are expected to extend the useful life of the site for another decade. Similar upgrades are taking place across the NWS network of radar sites.
"Fair weather" takes on a welcome meaning in Kiowa County through Sunday as temperatures remain pleasant, with just a hint of fall in the air.
Drought conditions continued to improve across a large part of Baca County, and portions of Prowers, eastern Las Animas and the southeast corner of Bent County.
It was a different story for western Montrose and most of Ouray counties, where conditions continued to deteriorate. In both cases, exceptional drought - the worst category - overtook extreme conditions that had been in place for months.
