A recent dry stretch means that perhaps the most dreaded weather term is back in Colorado: drought.

Parts of southern Colorado are officially in a drought again, according to the United States Drought Monitor’s update last Thursday. An unusually dry monsoon season to date is the primary reason that parts of Colorado are beginning to hurt for moisture, after a snowy and chilly winter and spring.

That said, only a small sliver of far southwestern Colorado is officially in a drought. Less than two percent of the state – the southern halves of La Plata and Montezuma Counties – are in a moderate drought, the lowest level of official drought classification.

But it represents a mid-to-late summer shift from what most of Colorado has seen so far this year. While summertime storms have mostly soaked eastern parts of the state, the mountains have overall been lagging for moisture. Through Friday, Grand Junction had seen only around half (52 percent) of its typical summertime rainfall, Cortez was only at 40 percent of its average rainfall since June 1, Durango was at 46 percent and Aspen was only at 58 percent for the same time period.

The rain deficit is almost entirely due to an unusually slow monsoon season across the southwestern United States. The monsoon, which runs from mid-June through late September, is the annual reversal of wind patterns that draws up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. That moisture mainly comes in the form of widespread daily showers and thunderstorms for the desert southwest, but so far this summer, that simply hasn’t happened.

In Arizona, the statewide summertime lightning count – a key measure of the amount of energy in place – was at a record low level, at least as of last week. Arizona is the state that typically receives the brunt of the monsoon’s moisture and energy.

After yesterday's storms, the total number of lightning strikes across Arizona this monsoon is up to 135,000. However, it still ranks as lowest on record (since 1988) through Aug 28. #azwx pic.twitter.com/RhnTVuJhOd — NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) August 29, 2019

In addition to the re-introduction of drought conditions, roughly a fifth of the state – about 19.5 percent – is “abnormally dry”, according to the Drought Monitor. That’s one level shy of official drought conditions, and the amount of Colorado that’s now abnormally dry jumped from about five to nearly 20 percent during the month of August.

For now, though, reservoir levels generally remain well above average thanks to the spring snowmelt, and overall drought conditions are the lowest they’ve been for years statewide.

But another dry month or two could start to increase some of the drought concerns as fall wears on, particularly in the southwest corner of the state. For the rest of the state, at the very least, it’s something to watch for as summer turns to fall.