Torrential rains have dampened spirits along the Front Range. But in southeast Colorado, which has been suffering through years of critical drought, the moisture is helping end a prolonged period of thirst.
In August 2014, the region was downgraded from the top level as an “exceptional drought” to “extreme” by federal forecasters. A new report issued Thursday shows the classification now down to “abnormally dry.”
“It’s definitely had an impact,” said Mark Wankowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo. “It’s just the way the weather is. It was highly unusual to get into this severe drought, and the way you get out of it are these severe weather events.”
National Weather Service data show Lamar, Eads, Pueblo and Colorado Springs are on the precipice of breaking their record rainfall totals for May.
“Is it unprecedented? No,” Wankowski said. “It’s just the cyclical nature of weather. You get these periods of wet, and you get these periods of dry.”
Wankowski said the recent rainfall has bolstered an already-wet 12 months, including above-normal precipitation in the late fall and winter.
“It takes awhile to get into drought,” he said. “And it takes awhile to get out.”
Greg Smith, who owns Smith Farms along U.S. 50 in Rocky Ford, said the rains have caused problems for his watermelon and cantaloupe operation.
“We can’t get into the fields to plant,” he said. “Maybe I can walk out there, but it’s wet enough to for sure not put any equipment in. What we need is some warm weather, windy conditions, and we’ll dry out.”
Smith said if he tried to send a tractor out onto his land, it would just sink into the ground.
“It’s not only a problem for us, (but also for) just planting regular field corn,” he said.
Tony Hass, a Trinidad cattle rancher who serves as the regional manager of the Colorado Farm Bureau for the state’s southeast counties, likened the rain to a double-edged sword.
“It’s kind of a mixed bag of opinions,” Hass said. “We needed the moisture, and I’m not going to badmouth any moisture we get. I know it makes a hardship on some of our farmers, but that’s the name of the game.”
Hass said he’s trying not to be too optimistic just yet, especially after years of parched land left the region’s cattle herds two-thirds depleted.
“Until we have three or four years like this behind us, I don’t know if the drought is behind us,” Hass said. “We just don’t know. You take it one day at a time and hope for the best.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733 or jpaul@denverpost.com