Drought in Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus, Colorado

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought that covered roughly 85% of Colorado Zone 003 - Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus, with the remaining 15% under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, significant improvement was noted. Extreme (D3) Drought conditions were completely removed, and the coverage of Severe (D2) Drought conditions was increased to 80% of the zone. Moderate (D1) Drought conditions were introduced, covering the remaining 20% of the zone. With the 10/21 update, the coverage of Severe (D2) Drought was reduced to 15%, with 85% of the zone now under Moderate (D1) Drought conditions. No significant changes were noted between this point and the end of the month.

A dry end to September and a dry start to October kept drought conditions consistent across much of eastern Utah and western Colorado at the start of the month. However, the arrival of deep tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storms Priscilla and Raymond helped to substantially improve drought conditions, especially across southwest Colorado. In this region, drought was completely eradicated. Only portions of northeast Utah and northwest Colorado, where the deep tropical moisture did not reach, saw drought conditions persist more or less unchanged.