Drought in Debeque To Silt Corridor, Colorado

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought as covering 95% of Colorado Zone 007 - Debeque to Silt Corridor, with the remaining 5% of the zone under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, significant improvement was noted, with Extreme (D3) Drought conditions completely removed and Severe (D2) Drought now covering 95% of the zone. Moderate (D1) Drought was introduced at this point, covering the remaining 5% of the zone. With the 10/21 update, Severe (D2) Drought coverage was reduced to 90%, and Moderate (D1) Drought coverage increased to 10%. No substantial 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.