Colorado is served by NIDIS's Intermountain West Drought Early Warning System (DEWS). A regional DEWS is a network of federal, tribal, state, local, and academic partners who work together to make information accessible and useful for drought planning and response. The Intermountain West DEWS has served this region since 2009, and includes Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and western New Mexico. 

This article in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences was the result of NIDIS-supported research. Learn more about this research.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Missouri River Basin for March–May 2023. Dated June 2023.

Cooler temperatures dominated the northern and western parts of the Basin, leading North Dakota to its 2nd coldest March–April. Temperatures rapidly flipped in May, with near-record warmth across the north. Precipitation was below normal for much of the basin this spring. Eastern Nebraska experienced record to near-record dryness this spring, exacerbating drought conditions.

Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook for the Western Region for March–May 2023. Dated June 2023.

Temperatures were generally cool to cold west-wide, with notable cold anomalies along the California coast and in the interior Intermountain West. With few exceptions, spring was wetter than normal in the western U.S., largely owing to a wet March.