Watering gardens in Denver, Colorado

Water today

It is 4 days since any rain reached the roots.

Updated this morning
Today

Has it rained enough in Denver?

Rain soaked properly in 4 days ago, and the ground is still holding some of it.

Denver has had 28.9mm of rain in the last 30 days. A normal October here brings 36.8mm, so the ground is roughly where it should be for the time of year.

Rain reaching the roots · 14 days
17 OctToday
Thirty years

Rain in Denver through a normal year

Across a normal year Denver gets about 479.8mm of rain, most of it in May (85.1mm) and least in December (20.9mm).

A normal October in Denver has rain on 8 days. Only 5 of them bring enough to reach a root.

That makes Denver one of the drier places this site covers in the United States in October — 25th of 30, against Seattle at the wet end (131.5mm) and Las Vegas at the dry end (8.4mm).

JFMAMayJJASONDec
Average rainfall by month, 1995–2024
What it means

What that means for what you grow

  • Pots and hanging basketsWorst hit, and first to suffer. Very little soil, fully exposed, and nothing to fall back on — in this weather they can empty in a day.
  • Salad and leafy vegShallow-rooted and quick to bolt once they run dry. First priority of anything in the ground.
  • Beds and bordersA long soak that reaches the roots is worth more than a daily sprinkle, which only wets the surface and is gone by lunchtime.
  • Established shrubs and treesFine as they are. They draw from far deeper than a dry spell reaches.