Drought in Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought as covering roughly 40% of Colorado Zone 005 - Upper Yampa River Basin, with the remaining 60% under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, significant improvement was noted. Extreme (D3) Drought was completely removed, with 40% of zone now under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. Moderate (D1) Drought was introduced at this point, covering roughly 60% of the zone. From this point through the end of the month, no significant changes were noted.

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.