DroughtOdds

Drought in Grand County, CO: 3.5 years in 10 since 2000

3.5 years in 10

Grand County, CO: 9 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. About as drought-prone as a typical US county.

  1. 2
  2. 0
  3. 48
  4. 27
  5. 36
  6. 0
  7. 2
  8. 0
  9. 0
  10. 0
  11. 10
  12. 0
  13. 45
  14. 37
  15. 0
  16. 0
  17. 0
  18. 0
  19. 25
  20. 10
  21. 23
  22. 52
  23. 1
  24. 0
  25. 7
  26. 25

20002025

Drought years: 2002 (48 wk), 2003 (27 wk), 2004 (36 wk), 2012 (45 wk), 2013 (37 wk), 2018 (25 wk), 2020 (23 wk), 2021 (52 wk) and 2025 (25 wk). Not a single drought week in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2023.

Plan for drought as normal: shrink the lawn, go drip and natives

Drought is the normal state of things here. Most of the yard goes to natives and gravel on drip; any grass that stays is a small, tough patch.

If you are replacing turf, plant natives in fall so roots set before the Aug peak, and check your water utility for a turf-removal rebate before you dig.

This is one step drier than the yearly count alone suggests, because 30% of growing-season weeks here were in drought.

Against the rest of CO

64th most drought-prone of 64 CO counties; the CO middle is 5.4 in 10. Closest on the list: Gilpin County (3.8 in 10). Driest in CO: Otero County (6.5 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Aug (35% of weeks), then Oct (34%) and Sep (33%). Least in Jan (23%). May to September averages 30%.

  1. 23 Jan
  2. 25 Feb
  3. 24 Mar
  4. 30 Apr
  5. 25 May
  6. 25 Jun
  7. 32 Jul
  8. 35 Aug
  9. 33 Sep
  10. 34 Oct
  11. 28 Nov
  12. 24 Dec

The worst year: 2021

2021: 52 weeks in drought, peaking at D4 exceptional. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 28.1% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 18% at D2, 7.1% at D3, 78 weeks with some of the county in D4. Longest unbroken spell: 77 weeks, Mar 27, 2012 to Sep 10, 2013.

Lately

Last drought year: 2025, 25 weeks. 2016-2025: 4 in 10, against 3.1 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 44 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Grand County lands on the plan covered in shrinking the lawn. Its worst year, 2021, was not one of the big national drought years; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Grand County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.